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A 







SIGNS BEFORE DEATH. 



A RECORD OF STRANGE APPARITIONS, 
REMARKABLE DREAMS, &c. 



a i^eto lEKition, SnlargeK antJ ffiarefullg Correcteli. 



"We are such stuff 

As dreams are made on, and our little life 

Is rounded with a sleep." 

Shakspeare. 



LONDON: 
WILLIAM TEGG & CO., PANCRAS LANE, CHEAPSIDE. 

NEW YORK: 
SCRIBNER, WELFORD, & ARMSTRONG. 

1875. 



\ 



^V5 



Qitt 

W. L. ShoGinaker 
7 S '06 



INTRODUCTION, 



It is more than probable that an effect has never yet been 
allowed to exist long without having laid to its charge, by 
ingenious heralds, a varying ancestry of at least a score of 
causes, differing in their nature as the people who create them 
differ, agreed only in their assertions of authenticity. The 
more marvellous the effect, the more numerous and absurd 
are these assignments Wherever mystery exists, there specu- 
lation is sure to abound ; and where speculation abounds, 
there will certainly be found also three conditions of things : 
(i) many ditches plentifully strewed with blind who have 
led each other thither, and fallen therein; (2) much be- 
clouded ignorance walking about disguised in all the colours 
of the rainbow ; and (3) a good deal of genius running 
wild, and increasing the confusion by subtle growths, often 
very beautiful, but only skin deep. 

There is no greater mystery than Death, that brief period 
of transition, when^ behind the veil — whose shadow we can 
see, but which no eye can penetrate, nor any hand rend — 
the future is coupled on to the past, and the present is 
abolished. Sleep has been alternately regarded as Nature's 
sweet restorer, and Death's twin brother ; and although the 
one reference appears complimentary, and the other grim, 
yet there is an affinity between the two beyond what is 
usually meant by the phrases ; for it Is certain that sleep 
cures quite as much disease in the world as medicine does, 



vi Introduction. 

and suppresses even more than it cures, and it is certain, 
too, that Death is the one perfect restorer of all such as 
long to be restored (and probably of the others too, after a 
process) to the state of Nature — which is a state of com- 
plete purity and love. Sleep and Death are the two greatest, 
and consequently the two divinest mysteries with which men 
are brought into contact. They are both processes, and they 
are both hidden. The result of the one we all have seen, 
and know; the joy that cometh in the morning every living 
being has had a share in. What comes after the other has 
formed the theme of endless controversy and wonder more or 
less intelligent, and also of one particular Book largely written 
by men whose minds were specially enriched for a special 
purpose by Him who unmistakeably knows the heart and 
is willing to guide the thoughts of men ; and written under 
circumstances (positive absence of previous bias, &c.) that 
would be held to be satisfactory even in any modern investi- 
gation of causes. It is always bewildering, and often dan- 
gerous, to face darkness without a light ; Death represents 
the blackness of darkness to those who are left behind \ and 
this Book has been as the bright shining of innumerable 
stars — thinning the darkness with a gentle light, far more 
tender than that of the sun — to many many thousands 
of these watchers standing on the edge, gazing into the 
unknown but inevitable. This light has reminded them of 
the Source of Light, and has revealed to them sufficient to 
base infinite hope upon. If the mystery could be wholly 
interpreted, it would not be divine ; but we know — enough 
of us to form a quorum, at any rate — that it is divine, and 
the rest we shall not know yet^ but we shall know ; and we 
prefer to say to all who differ, *' We have a fancy — if you 
like to regard it as such — a very great fancy for the Bible 
(that is the Book) as it is (not by any means objecting to a 



j 

Introduction, vii 

revision of the translation, by the way) with all its mys- 
teries, and fragmentary revelations, and promises of more 
by and by. And we fancy, too, that the mother who can 
look up quietly and say, after she has lost her baby, ' I Icnow 
in whom I have believed, and that He is able to help those 
who trust Him,' has a wonderful advantage over him who 
says, ' I like to know what I am about ; I believe what I 
see, or can see proved, and when I see miracles worked, or 
get the benefit of one, then I will believe in them and the 
other doubtful matters.' " 

The one idea seems loving and tender, the other cold and 
harsh ; which is about the same as saying the one seems 
right and the other wrong. For we know that in social life, 
kindliness and good-will and liberal judgment are considered 
the best rules for guidance, and that logical exactness and 
statuesque philosophy are only admired at a distance, and 
have no near friends. And we are sure that the Bible is with 
the good-natured , we are conscious of its influence right 
through our lives, that it is with us in every good word and 
kind thought, and that it tugs at us when in moments of 
indigestion (physical or mental) we strive to be uncharitable 
and rough. Please excuse us when we admit that we do 
not follow every controversy to what is called its ' issue ; ' 
and accept as explanation that we followed two or three re- 
presentative ones, and found them such a weariness of the 
flesh, such a climbing up mountains of sawdust, that we 
determined, if we got safely out of the last, we would never 
run the same risk again. Without the Bible we can imagine 
the mother's brain giving way under the pressure, and the 
student throwing down his books, and asking why he should 
strive, to what end ? Threescore years and ten, with the 
intermediate risks, offer but slight inducements. With the 
Bible we can understand the mother's calm and the student's 



viii Introduction. 

eagerness, and the anticipations of both. We feel that we 
gain by 'believing where we cannot prove,' and that we lose 
by giving in to that spirit of perverseness which arogantly 
demands proof in defiance of a secret consciousness that the 
power that holds the proof can afford to smile at the imper- 
tinence, and is strong enough to crush out all opposition 
at any moment. 

^* When He folds the cloud about Him, 
Firm within it stands His throne ; 
Wherefore should His children doubt HItp, 
Those to whom His love is known, 

God is with us, 
We are never left alone, *' 



11. 

The foregoing are the first thoughts that came to me when 
I began to consider this Introduction, and I do not see 
that any apology need be offered for writing them down. 
They are not strikingly original I know ; the main thought 
has all the advantages of age ; but it is certainly true that 
we require to be most frequently reminded of those things 
that are most familiar to us, those things that are ' taken for 
granted' — which is merely another term for being cast into 
oblivion. If we thought more about the Bible, noting 
more carefully the vast extent and comprehensiveness of 
what it does reveal to us now*, with its illimitable promise of 
more to follow — neither fact nor promise being approached 
by any other fact or system ; if we thought more about God, 
of the grandeur of the conception, of the way in which He 
is proving every day the exact truth of the account of Him 
that has been handed down to us, how He is making know- 
ledge to * grow from more to more ' with ever increasing 



Intro diictiom ix 

rapidity — thus giving man the chance of proving a great 
many things for himself ^ if we were to set our minds at 
great thoughts such as these^ and try to get an idea of their 
vastness, we should surely find ourselves able to overcome 
the temptation to stand open-mouthed in the presence of 
small illusions, most of which have to be carefully worked 
up to along a weary avenue of artifice ; surely we should 
be strong enough to say in presence even of the strongest 
case, " No, no ; the great God is not in that whirlwind. I 
may not be able to comprehend fully, but He is certainly 
not in Spirit-rapping, neither does he transmit his messages 
through Ghosts, nor sanction a special significance in the 
howling of dogs ; Professor Anderson would be the most 
inspired apostle of such a God, certainly not St. Paul. 
But the diversions of the forces of Nature are always interest- 
ing, and frequently amusing ; and inexplicable things are 
constantly bemg explained. So we will only wonder and 
wait." 

Such then is the preliminary note in accord with which 
I wish the reading of the following pages to be tuned. 
There are many people in the world possessing good hearts 
but sadly weak nerves ; and although those w^ho are stronger 
cannot pretend to regulate their general conduct by a false 
standard, in order to save their neighbours from shocks, yet 
I think it behoves us to check their sufferings wherever a 
direct opportunity presents itself; and to announce the antidote 
when we see any risk. It would be almost wrong to send 
out this book with merely a word or two about the remark- 
able stories it contains. We must remind each other of the 
grounds we have for not believing in the miscellaneous 
working of superhuman agencies \ of the appalling evidence 
we have daily before our eyes of the prolificness of ignor- 
ance and its spouse superstition ; of the strange combina- 



X Introduction. 

tions of circumstances that are constantly being made 
known in every circle of friends, which look as though they 
had purposely interwoven themselves to create confusion 
amongst the parties interested, but which fall into a most 
natural sequence from the moment we find out the key-fact 
and begin our investigation at the right end. We should 
also remind each other at all such periods of doubt, of the 
enormous majority of important incidents that occur every 
year in every life without the slightest preparatory hmt bemg 
given, which in itself seems to me to be a triumphant rejoin- 
der to volumes of such weak questionings ; of the number of 
times that under the influence of extreme anxiety or ill-health, 
we have imagined uncounted ills, not one of which has reached 
us ; and, we might even add, of the habit human nature has 
somehow fallen into of dreaming of deaths, a habit that has 
become so general and persistent that human ingenuity — 
not to outdone — has ordained that to dream of a death 
signifies the approach of a wedding. I do not mean to say 
that it is in direct opposition to all we know of providential 
decrees and means of working that anything should at any 
time be done through dreams or other signs, but I do mean 
to say that the occasion must be very great (the simple word 
is the best) and the sign must bear the distinct mark of God 
upon it. We know that in the old time, in the beginning, 
dream revelations were accepted as guides to action,^ but 
that was when Christianity, and consequently Civilization in 
all its highest forms were in their extreme infancy, and 

* We might, for the sake of argument, even go so far as to say that 
possibly the faculty of dreaming was created for this purpose, and after 
the special need for such aids had ceased — Christianity becoming suffi- 
ciently established and Civilization growing— the faculty was not with- 
drawn lest we of later times should fail to understand the ancient 
process. 



hitrodtictmi. xi 

more than one able writer has shewn how many agencies 
were required then to aid, support, and defend the young 
growths that would be utterly foolish and futile now. 
Fingers were made before forks, and served the purpose ; 
but now we have the improved means let us use them and 
be thankful. 

The only super-humanity there is any need that we should 
recognise now, is, the super-humanity of science, and of 
knowledge generally. All science was super-human once 
and there are probably a number of inofifensive forces of 
nature — not meaning to make people uncomfortable, but 
simply going on with their work — which we have not yet 
reached; and the forces with which we are upon tolerably 
friendly terms may indulge occasionally in combinations 
undreamt of in our philosophy. Bear in mind, too, that^ 
by silly affright and superstitious reverence on your part 
whenever anything strange occurs, you are reducing your- 
self to the level of the most savage tribes that have yet been 
discovered, and that even the most untutored of these could 
make your experience pale into mere matter-of fact beside 
the gorgeous visions and intricate miracles he could relate 
as vouchsafed to him. Mr. Tylor remarks that ' the religious 
beliefs of all the lower races are based upon visions and 
dreams.' 



III. 

But to set aside the fact of superstition, and all the mar- 
vellous and suggestive stories connected with the history of 
it, as unworthy of notice, would be just as foolish as to urge 
or encourage belief in it. This histor}^ has always been of 
increasing interest, increasing as the light that could be 
thrown upon it has increased j for it has seemed to the 



xii Introduction, 

thoughtful that superstition is in the main faith misdirected, 
and that all this uneasiness about spiritual manifestations, 
&c., has a thread, long drawn out, yet connecting it with 
that inborn yearning which, however much neglected, lingers 
in the heart of man, stretching some of the thoughts of it 
towards the Infinite Hereafter — that Hereafter being another 
inborn bit of knowledge. 

The earliest glimpses of human sense — the first excursions 
beyond the line of Instinct — are found in the records of 
mythology : and they reveal to us the existence of a con- 
stant feeling of fear lest evil deeds requiring redress should 
be committed, and a terrible anxiety to atone without loss 
of time or chance for any such mishaps. Mythology, which 
is the basis from whence arises the whole fabric of modern 
fable, in its earliest developments showed a keen discrimina- 
tion between right and wrong, and unhesitatingly dismissed 
the wrong to frightful penalties — to be scorched up by the 
sun, whose heat was insatiable ; to be eaten up of dragons 
whose appetites were equal to any emergency. This idea 
of the punishment of wrong-doing is the first principle by 
which humanity is distinguished, it is embedded in the con- 
stitution of the lowest types. In it was involved the 
possibility of right-doing ; if wrong must be punished, it 
followed, as a matter of course, that right must be rewarded. 
Hence, we find that the most careful regard was shown to 
the supposed feelings of the Sun and the Dragon ; and, as it 
is useless to cry out after you are hurt (or at anyrate unavail- 
ing), we know that no efforts w^ere spared to conciliate those 
powerful and voracious elements — or rather Deities, which is 
the more exact description. 

This may be regarded as the time when the sentiment of 
Reverence was beginning life, and it was certainly blind in 
its youth, as very many now living, who have not carefully 



Introduction, xiii 

cultivated a later acquaintance with it, are always unconscious- 
ly testifying. Tlie visible indifference of the sun, and the 
assumed indifference of the dragon, to these oblations, only 
excited these victims of a dawning conscience (if the term 
may be allowed) to still wilder excesses. The reaction 
came after a time, but it brought little light wdth it. The 
only new element it introduced was curiosity : superstition 
was rampant as ever, but some of the elementary forms of 
fear had given place, and the first suggestions of wonder 
were experienced. From that time the business was carried 
on by curiosity, superstition, wonder, fear, and reverence 
conjointly, the latter being a sleeping partner, but largely 
interested. 



IV. 

Now, this principle of Wrong being punishable and Right 
being laudable, and this desire to conciliate the powers that 
were, involved, as we have already hinted, the further notion 
of a Hereafter ; otherwise men would have felt a certain 
security in the knowledge that, if the worst came to the 
worst, and especially if unwittingly they did wrong, they 
could cancel the whole business by putting an end to them- 
selves. But the knowledge was implied that no such 
obliteration was possible ; and this is strengthened by the 
whole subsequent development of curiosity, which certainly 
signifies something to be discovered. This new phase did 
not however bring with it any new power of penetration, I 
have said : it did little more than re-assert the facts about 
Right and Wrong, Punishment and Reward, a Present and 
a Future, &c., and left them unqualified and unsupported. I 
will quote here two brief passages which I noted the other 
day when seeking out some of the earlier utterances upon 



XIV Introduction. 

this great subject of human hopes and fears, anticipations 
and horrors, and which bear directly upon the preceding 
remarks. A French writer, Boismont, in his treatise " Des 
Hallucinations," published more than 20 years ago, said, 
" The savage who dreams of the Great Spirit and boundless 
hunting grounds of another life ; the man of the middle ages 
who knelt at the entrance of the purgatory of St. Patrick ; 
the Arab who wanders amid the enchanted Palaces of the 
Thousand-and-One Nights ; the Hindoo absorbed in the 
incarnations of Brama; the inhabitant of the civilized 
world who in public believes in nothing, and consults the 
pythoness or fortune-teller in secret, or seeks for revelations 
of the future in magnetism ; all obey the same law of 
necessity — that of believing in something;'' and this im- 
portant intuition if not properly trained and dieted, runs 
wild and entangles itself with other unchecked growths. " If," 
wrote Hobbes, " this superstitious fear of spirits were taken 
away, and with it prognostics from dreams, false prophecies, 
and many other things depending thereon, by which crafty 
and ambitious persons abuse the simple people, men would 
be much more fitted than they are for civil obedience. 
And this ought to be the work of the Schools." 

Fear is always highly imaginative and includes the principle 
of Reverence in a greater or less degree ; there is something 
beautiful in the eager efforts of the Savage to hinder or 
assuage the anger of the sun, and something highly poetical in 
the notion of an insatiable dragon engaged in purging his part 
of the world of the evil that lurked therein. But curiosity 
in all itsjower and most popular forms has nothing of the kind 
to temper its excesses, the majority of which become in con- 
sequence completely gross — entirely unideal ; it is an effect 
of civilization and culture, although in many hundreds of 
instances it may not be connected with it*' cause by even a 



Introdtccfion, xv 

single nerve. That is what I mean when I say that passing 
from the region of Fear into that of Curiosity we realise a 
change of atmosphere but no fresher air, until we get away 
from where the people congregate, and reach the outlying 
hills in pursuit of the minority. How enormous is the 
majority even now, who use this great intuition only for the 
meanest purposes of every-day life, instead of cherishing it 
as the birth-right of humanity, and the weapon whereby 
mountains can be removed if it be intelligently wrought 
with. 

Just as it is possible for a woman to attain to the highest 
reach or to touch the lowest depth that is within the 
compass of humanity, so does Curiosity (the secret spring 
of all culture) develop under right training into the steady 
and unfailing guide of the Intelligence, leading it to elevated 
places whence full and fair views can be obtained, taking it 
round to the back of the infinite number of Hypocrises 
while they are ignorantly playing their little games before 
the world, shewing it even a long way into the mystery of 
Godliness ; or, it degenerates into an instrument of torture, 
to the possessor quite as much as to the most sensitive 
witness or victim ; its reflections are inverted, and he so 
becomes filled with distorted views of the men and things 
about him, with calumnies in the place of revelations of the 
progress of truth and righteousness, until he is unable to 
weigh an action, to follow the current of a motive, or to 
estimate the approximate value of anything that is not 
obvious. He wants everything explained to him and then 
refuses to accept explanations unless they exhaustively 
account for the matter in hand; he must have everything 
accounted for to his satisfaction or, he says, he won't believe 
in it — as if that mattered ! How the forces of nature must 
laugh in their own delightful way at some of our airs and 



XVI Introduction. 

graces, our terrible threats of scepticism, of shewing them 
up if they don't behave better, and so on. 

I sometimes think that the old established firm to which I 
have alluded on p. xiii. is very much extending its operations 
without offering any improvement in the quality of its pro- 
ductions ; and that the education of curiosity must be very 
seriously neglected in many parts. For instance, when I 
read such utterances as the following :—" Afterwards the 
question should be put, ' are we sitting in the right order to 
get the best manifestations % ' Probably some members of 
the circle will then be told to change seats with each other, 
and the signals will be afterwards strengthened. Next ask, 
* Who is the medium % ' When spirits come, asserting them- 
selves to be related or known to anybody present, well- 
chosen questions should be put to test the accuracy of the 
statements, as spirits otct of the body have all the virtues and 
all the faili7igs of spirits in the hodyT This is one of the 
rules laid down for the regulation of a spiritualistic seance. 

In these absurd efforts (to use a very mild term) to pry 
into the region beyond nature, the greatest results obtained 
are so paltry when compared with the everyday achieve- 
ments of common sense, that they w^ould be entitled only to 
take rank amongst the heavier forms of practical joking, 
and we should be justified in referring them thither, but for 
the number of people we see who are seriously influenced 
by them. It is not my intention to speak in this place with 
any detail upon the great subjects of Latent Thought, and the 
independent working of the brain — Unconscious Cerebration; 
but the mere mention of such vast and important depart- 
ments of scientific research is reassuring ; and to think for 
a moment of what Sir Wm. Hamilton and Dr. Carpenter 
have already unravelled, or rather how much they have re- 
vealed, of these greatest mysteries of men's minds is surely 



Introdtictio7t, xvii 

enough to allay any passing excitement that anything we 
can regard as a phenomenon may arouse, and to cause us 
to agree with the latter gentleman when he says that in view 
of the great scientific discoveries that have been already 
granted to us, we ought to "look to an increased acquaint- 
ance with Nature, rather than to supernatural agencies, for 
the explanation of phenomena that seems beyond the scope 
of ordinary knowledge." There are so many more things in 
heaven and earth than are dreamt of by the most comprehen- 
sive philosopher; and it is to be hoped, my friend, whoever you 
are, that there are more and greater ideas in your head than 
have ever yet come out of it, and how they got there you 
don't know, nor ever will know. There is nothing more won- 
derful in the world than that. *' We know that when any 
given object is seen, there is an image of that object, be it 
tree, man, or animal, painted on the retina in rays of light ; 
but how that image is communicated to the brain, and from 
it to the sentient principle — what is the mechanical change 
produced on the nerve fibres during its transmission — what 
different change is required to convey the different images 
of a tree or a dog to the mind ; of all these things we are 
utterly ignorant.^' So spake an anonymous but thoughtful 
writer 12 years ago, and as many of the incidents recorded 
in the following pages are cases of hallucination, as seeing 
things that are invisible, the passage may be read to advan- 
tage twice. 

Before closing, I must give just one more, to me very 
striking, instance, shewing at once how many delusions occur 
and how they might be prevented. Mr. Home, the cele- 
brated medium, declared, amongst other assertions, that he 
could see the light issue from a magnet. Dr. Carpenter 
says calmly — that if certain conditions could be complied 
to, this assertion would " be entitled to rank as an ascer- 



xviii l7itroductio7t, 

tained scientific fact. But," he continues, *' this, after all, 
Would merely prove that magnetic force, acting through Mr. 
Homers nervous system, could produce the sensation of 
light ; which would not seem more unlikely to those who 
know the correlation of those forces, than that certain per- 
sons should be apprised of a change of wind or the approach 
of a thunderstorm, by feelings of which ordinary people have 
no experience." Of course none but a man of high culti- 
vation could defend himself or his opinion with such an 
explanation as this. And does not this also show that 
even the exhibitor may himself be taken in — that is to say, 
deceived as to the nature of the properties exhibited in 
and through him ] And am I not right, when I say again, 
be content to wonder and wait*? And do disabuse your 
minds, you who are under the influence of that absurd pos- 
tulate, that it is necessary to form a definite and final opinion 
without delay upon everything that presents itself with a 
claim upon your attention ; don't send it away without 
notice, but do not be afraid to say " I'll think it over, and let 
you know in a year or two." 

We have but faith ; we cannot know ; 

For knowledge is of things we see ; 

And yet we trust it comes from Thee, 
A beam in darkness, let it grow. 

It remains to be stated that Horace Welby's * Signs before 
Deaths' forms the basis of this volume. But none of his 
stories are simply reprinted ; antiquated forms of expression 
have been modified as far as seemed desirable, absurd com- 
ments by no means essential have been expunged, and some 
new matter added, 

W.B.T. 
London, 1874. 



INDEX. 

K>« 

PAGE 

Apparition to a Highwayman 3 

A Mysterious Memorandum 27 

Apparition at Belfast 29 

A Mother's Appearance to her Son 54 

An Experience of a Professor 90 

Appearance of Henry Jacob to his cousin. loi 

Anecdote of Lady Hastings I02 

A Fortunate Dream 1 04 

A Member of Parliament warned of Arrest 118 

Apparition seen by R. Bovet , 120 

Apparition seen in York Cathedral 128 

An Awful Admonition 131 

Apparitions recorded by Boswell 132 

Ann Taylor of Tiverton 134 

Apparition seen by Lady Pennyman 135 

Apparition seen by Mr. Walker 152 

Apparition of Lord Tyi"one 160 

Apparition to Mr. W. Lilly 168 

Apparition of Mr. Thomkins... 172 

Apparition to M. Mercato 190 

Apparition seen at Portnedown Bridge 191 

Apparition of Major Blomberg 194 

Apparition to Lady Fanshaw 2II 

Apparition to Melancthon 213 

Apparition to Mrs. Veal 215 

Apparition to Mr. Bezuel 227 

A Hint to Judge Brograve 233 

Apparition of Mr. Barlow's Huntsman 237 

Apparition to Ninon de L'Enclos 244 

A Dream Fulfilled 272 

A New Miracle 274 

Apparition to Miss Hepburn of Garleton 247 



XX * Contents, 



PAOK 



Apparition to Mr. Weston 249 

Belfast, Apparition at 29 

Blandy, Omens of the Murder of Mr 34 

Beaumont's Confession 126 

Booty (Mr.) and the Ship's Crew 223 

Barlow's (Mr.) Huntsman.... ; 237 

Councillor John Bourne of Dudley 33 

Captain Porteous 36 

Cashio Burroughs and the Courtesan 97 

Captain Roger's Dream 98 

Captain Bell and Luther's Table-Talk I14 

Confession of John Beaumont 126 

Charles II., Omen to 233 

Conversion of Henry de Joyense 243 

Discovery of a Murder at Chester.... I 

Drummer of Tedworth 15 

Durley, John Bourne of. 33 

David Hunter's Vision 59 

Duchess of Mazarine and Madame Beauclair 65 

Doune, Dr. and Mrs 72 

Dr. Scott and the Title-Peed 75 

Dorothy Dingley of Lancaster 82 

Dream, A Fortunate I04 

Discovery of Murderers of Mr. Stockden 106 

Dream Revelations of Murder 107 

Dominica, Apparition to the Governor of 194 

Dream of Rev. J. Wilkins 225 

Desfontaines, Apparition of 227 

Death of Commissioner 234 

Dream of Miss Hutton 242 

Duel Prevented. 256 

Dream Fulfilled, A 272 

Evidence of an Apparition 238 

Farrer (Dr.) and his Daughter 14 

Ficinus, Apparition of 190 

Goddard (T.) of Marlborough , 50 

Cast's House 55 

Hastings (Lady Elizabeth), Anecdote of. I02 

Haddock (James) to F. Traverner , 109 



Signs before Death, xxi 

PAGE 

Henry III/s Death Prognosticated 241 

Hutton (Miss) Remarkable Dream of. 242 

Hepburn (Miss) of Garleton, Apparition to 247 

James IV., Warning to 28 

Jacob (Dr.), Apparition to , lOi 

Johnson (Dr.), Apparition recorded in Life of 132 

Joyense (Henry de), Conversion of 243 

Lee's (Sir Charles) Daughter 32 

Letter by Earl of Marlborough 44 

Luther's Table-Talk, Captain Bell and II4 

Lady Davies's Prognostics I15 

Londonderry, Apparitions to the Marquis of 123 

Lindsay (R.) of Edinburgh 128 

Lady Beresford, Apparition to 160 

Lilly (Mr. W.), Apparitions seen by.. 168 

Lady Fanshaw, Apparition to 2II 

Lord Lyttleton 234 

Murder at Chester, Discovery of I 

Merchant's Apprentice, The 30 

Marlborough's Letter to Sir H. Portland 44 

Middleton (Lord) and the Laird lOO 

Murder, Dream Revelations of ... 107 

Mohun (Lord) to his Mistress 116 

Melancthon, Apparition to 213 

Massacre of St. Bartholomew 240 

Miracle, A N^w 274 

Ninon de L'Enclos, Apparition to 244 

Omen of Murder of Mr. Blandy 34 

Omen to Mrs. Stephens I17 

Orrery (Lord) and his Butler 157 

Owen, Sir John and Lady 229 

Omen to Charles II 233 

Porteous, Captain 36 

Prognostics, Lady Davies's I15 

Pitcaime's (Dr.) Dream 190 

Portnedown Bridge, Apparition seen at 191 

Peden, Alexander 242 

Rochester Apparition, The , 94 

Radiant Boy, Appearance of the , , 123 



xxii Contents, 



PAaE 



Remarkable Dream of Rev. J. Wilkins... 225 

Sir Charles Lee's Daughter 32 

Spider (The) and the King 36 

Sydenham (Major) and Captain W. Dyke 42 

Sherbroke (Sir John) and General Wynyard 45 

Sherring's Story of Oast's House... 55 

Strange Presages at Woodstock 60 

Scott (Dr.) and the Title-Deed 75 

Singular Vision to Mrs. Lowe 88 

Stockden, Discovery of Murderers of 106 

Strange Experiences of the Wesley Family 173 

Sword Signs 210 

Second Sight , 250 

Stampford Ghost . . 26 1 

The Two Brothers II 

Tedworth, The Drummer of , .. 15 

The Merchant's Apprentice 30 

The Spider and the King 36 

Theodosius, Vision of. .... , 39 

Thornton of Fulham. 73 

The Midnight Storm 142 

Tyrone (Lord) Appearance of 160 

The Abbey Vault ,. 196 

The Disobedient Son 200 

The Yatton Demoniac 202 

Vision of Theodosius 39 

Vision of David Hunter , 59 

Villiers, Duke of Buckingham 69 

Vision to Mrs. Lowe 2>% 

Wicked Step-Mother, The 4 

Warning to James IV ,.. ., 28 

Wynyard (General) and Sir J. Sherbroke 45 

Woodstock, Strange Presages at 60 

Warning to an M.P Ii8 

Warren (Rev. Mr.) Appariti-.nto , 172 

Wesley Family, Strange Experiences of. 173 

Weston (Mr.), Apparition to , 249 

York Cathedral, Apparition in 128 

Yatton Demoniac, The 202 



9 


E 


R>g]Sl 


^^Mi 


M 


^^W'^ 


1 



SIGNS BEFORE DEATH. 



->♦♦♦<- 



I. 

Discovery of a Mttrder at Chester. 

About the year 1632, near Chester-in-the-street, there 
lived one Walker, a yeoman of good estate, and a 
widower, with a handsome young house-keeper, who 
was by the neighbours suspected to be with child. 
Towards the dusk one evening in autumn, she was 
sent away in company with a man named Mark 
Sharpe. After this she was not heard of for a long 
time. In the following winter, one James Graham, 
or Grime, a miller, residing about two miles from the 
place where Walker lived, was one night alone very 
late in the mill, grinding corn. About twelve o'clock 
he came down stairs, having finishing putting corn in 
the hopper, when there stood before him a woman, 
with her hair hanging loose about her head, and stained 
with blood. Upon her head were five large wounds. 
He asked her who she was, and what she wanted ? 

wShe replied, " I am the spirit of , who lived 

with Walker ; and having been seduced by him, he 
promised to send me to a private place, where I 
should be well attended to until 1 was brought to bed 
and well again, when I should return and keep his 

I 



2 SIGNS BEFORE BE A TH. 

house. Accordingly," continued the Apparition, " I 
was one night sent away late, with one Mark Sharpe, 
who upon a moor (naming a place which the miller 
knew) slew me with a pick (such as men use in digg- 
ing coals), and gave me these five wounds, and after- 
wards threw my body into a coal-pit hard by, and hid 
the pick under a bank ; and his shoes and stockings 
being bloody, he endeavoured to wash them, but see- 
ing the blood would not wash out, he hid them there." 
The Apparition further told the Miller that he must 
be the man to reveal the crime, or else she must still 
appear and haunt him. The Miller returned home 
very sad and heavy, but told no one of what he had 
seen. 

Shortly afterwards, and again towards dusk, the 
Apparition met him a second time, and threatened 
that if he did not reveal the murder, it would con- 
tinually pursue and haunt him. He still said nothing 
of what had happened until just before Christmas, 
when walking one evening in his garden, it appeared 
again, and so threatened and terrified him, that he 
faithfully promised to reveal the whole matter next 
morning. 

In the morning he went to a magistrate, and told 
what he knew. A diligent search was made, the body 
was found in a coal-pit, with five wounds in the head, 
and the pick, the shoes, and stockings, still marked, 
were also found under a bank close by. Walker and 
Mark Sharpe were both apprehended, but would con- 
fess nothing. At the following Durham assizes they 
were arraigned before Judge Davenport, found guilty, 
condemned, and executed. During the trial, one Mr. 
Fairbair gave it in evidence upon oath, that he saw 
the likeness of a child stand upon Walker's shoulders ! 
— From H, Welby, 



THE APPARITION AND THE HIGHWA YMAN. 3 

11. 

The Apparition and the Highwayman, 

In the year 1780, Mr. Bovver, an aged man, living at 
Guildford in Surrey, was, upon the highway, not far 
from the town, found barbarously murdered, having 
one great cut across the throat, and another down his 
breast. Two men were taken up on suspicion, and 
imprisoned in Guildford gaol, with another, who had 
before been committed for robbery. During the night, 
this third man was awakened about twelve o'clock, 
and greatly terrified by a vision of an old man, who 
had a wide gash across his throat, almost from ear to 
ear, and a wound down his breast. He came in stoop- 
ing, and holding his hand to his back. The thief 
called to his new companions, who grumbled at him, 
but made no answer. 

In the morning he retained so lively an impression 
of what he had seen, that he spoke to them again, but 
they told him it was nothing but his fancy. But he 
was so fully persuaded of the reality of this appari- 
tion, that he told others of it, and it reached the ears 
of a magistrate of Surrey, who was cousin to the mur- 
dered gentleman. 

He immediately sent for the prisoner, and asked 
him, in the first place, whether he was born or had lived 
near Guildford 1 To this he answered no. Secondly, 
he enquired if he knew any of the inhabitants of that 
town, or of the neighbourhood 1 He replied that he 
was an entire stranger to all that part of the country. 
He then enquired if he had ever heard of one Mr. 
Bower 1 He said he had not. After this he asked 
for what the other two men were imprisoned } He 
said he supposed for some robbery, but did not know 
positively. 

The magistrate then desired him to tell him what 



4 S/GJVS BEFORE DEATH, 

he had seen in the night, which he immediately did. 
He said the old gentleman had a picked beard, rough 
cheeks, and that the hair on his face was black and 
white. The magistrate said that he himself could not 
have given a more exact description of Mr. Bower. 

He, however, concealed this story from, the jury at 
the assizes, knowing it would not be evidence accord- 
ing to law. The friends of the murdered gentleman 
had been very rigid in their search, and had discovered 
several suspicious circumstances ; one of which was, 
that these two men had washed their clothes, but 
some stains of blood still remained ; another, that one 
of them had denied ever having heard that Mr. Bower 
was dead, having in another place talked about it two 
hours before. Upon this, and similar evidence, the 
men were condemned and executed, but they both 
denied all knowledge of the murder to the last 
moment 

Some time after a tinker was hanged, who, at his 
death said, that the murder of Mr. Bower, at Guild- 
ford, was his greatest trouble ; for he had a hand in it. 
He then confessed that he struck the blow on the 
back, which brought Mr. Bov/er from his horse, and 
when he was down, the other two men who had been 
arraigned and executed, cut his throat, and robbed 
him. — Frojn Dr. H. More, 



HI. 

The Wicked Step-mother, 

A gentlemen of good position married a lady of 
fortune, by whom he had one son and one daughter. 
After a few years the lady died. He then married a 
second wife with less fortune than the other, who mal- 
treated the children he had by his first wife. 

The first misunderstanding between the parties was 



THE WICKED STEP-MOTHER, 5 

owing to the eldest son's wish to go abroad, which the 
mother-in-law would gladly have acquiesced in, had 
it not been for the expense, which she feared might 
prove very heavy. The young gentleman not obtain- 
ing leave, applied to his own mothers brother, and, 
finding his plan approved, set out on his intended 
journey, contrary to the wish of his father. 

The father received intelligence from him regularly 
for some time, and had made him a reasonable allow- 
ance ; but owing to the influence of his step-mother, 
this remittance was suddenly discontinued, after which 
the correspondence ceased for four years. 

During this long silence, the mother-in-law exerted 
herself in several ways : she first intimated to his father 
that he must be dead ; and, consequently, that his es- 
tate should be settled upon her eldest son, she having 
several children. His father opposed this proposition 
very firmly, but the wife became importunate, arguing 
that, if he were dead, then there could be no room to 
object to her son's being heir-at-law. If he were alive, 
his neglect of his father was inexcusable, and he ought 
to resent it,and settle the estate as though heweredead. 

The father withstood the importunities of his wife 
for a long time. Her restless solicitations, however, at 
last produced this provisional arrangement : that if he 
did not hear from his son within four years, he would 
consent to resettle the estate. She became dissatisfied 
with this conditional agreement, and he grew angry at 
her discontent. Still she teazed him so continually 
that at last she reduced the time to one year ; but 
before she brought him to this agreement, she told 
him one day in a passion, that she hoped the spirit 
of his son would appear to him, and tell him that he 
was dead and that he ought to do justice to his other 
children. He replied that he hoped his son's spirit, if 
he were not dead, would appear to her and tell her 
he was alive, before the time expired. 



O SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

It happened one evening soon afterwards that they 
had a violent quarrel upon this subject, when suddenly 
a hand appeared at the casement, endeavouring to 
open it. The gentleman did not see it, but his wife 
did, and she presently started up, as if frightened, and, 
forgetting the quarrel, exclaimed, " Dear me ! there 
are thieves in the garden." Her husband ran imme- 
diately to the door of the room, and, opening it, 
looked out. 

" There is nobody in the garden/' said he ; and then 
shut the door again, and returned to his seat. 

" I am sure I saw a man there," she said. 

" It must be a ghost then/' he replied, " for I am 
sure there is nobody in the garden." 

*' lam certain," added his wife, " I saw a man put 
his hand up to open the casement ; but finding it fast, 
and I suppose seeing us in the room, he walked off." 

" It is impossible he could have got away in the 
time. Did not I run to the door immediately, and 
you know the garden walls on both sides would pre- 
vent escape." 

" No, I am not so easily mistaken," replied she ; "if 
^twas a ghost, 'twas the ghost of your son, who perhaps 
may be come to tell you he is gone." 

" If it was my son," replied he, "he is come to tell 
us he is alive, I warrant you ; and to ask how you can 
be so wicked as to desire me to disinherit him," and 
with these words ^' Alexander I' he cried aloud, repeat- 
ing it twice, " if you are alive, show yourself, and don't 
let me be vexed thus daily with the story of your 
being dead." 

At these words the casement flew open, and his son 
Alexander looked in, and staring directly upon the 
mother with an angry countenance, cried out, " Herel' 
and then vanished ! The wife gave a terrified scream ; 
the maid ran into the parlour to see what was the 
matter, and found her mistress had fainted away. 



THE WICKED STEP-MOTHER. 7 

The husband ran immediately from the parlour into 
the garden, and from thence to two other doors which 
opened out of his garden, one into the stable-yard 
and another into the field beyond the garden, but 
found them all fast shut and barred. On returning 
into the garden, he found his gardener and a boy : he 
asked them if any other person had been in the gar- 
den, but they both solemnly affirmed that none had 
been there. 

Upon this he returned to the room, seated himself, 
and remained silent for some time. After a while his 
wife recovered herself, when the first words she said 
v/ere, "What was it .'^ " *' Indeed," said her husband, 
" 'twas Alexander." She fell again into a fainting fit, 
and continued very ill for several days afterwards. 

This put an end for some considerable time to her 
solicitations about disinheriting her son-in-law. But 
time wore on, and she began to revive the old cause 
again, though not at first so eagerly as before. This 
gave rise to serious disputes, in which the husband 
alluded to the recent apparition, and threatened to 
recall it. The enraged wife at length indicted him as 
a wizard, and accused him of horrible traffickings in 
witchcraft and sorcery. At length, for what will not 
the discontent of woman effect, she so far prevailed 
on him, that he offered to refer the dispute to indif- 
ferent persons, or friends on both sides ; and they met 
several times, but could bring the matter to no con- 
clusion. His friends said that he called for his son, 
and some one opened the casement and cried Here ; 
asserting that there was not the least evidence of 
witchcraft in that, and insisting that she could make 
nothing of it. She offered to swear that he had 
threatened her before with his son's ghost ; that now 
he had visibly raised a spectre, for that upon calling 
his son, the spirit immediately appeared. After much 
altercation they were reconciled again, and accordingly 



8 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 

he gave her the writing ; but when he delivered it to 
her, in the presence of her two arbitrators, he thus 
addressed her : — " Look you, you have worried me 
into this agreement by your fiery temper, and I have 
signed it against justice, conscience, and reason ; but 
depend upon it I shall never perform it/' 

One of the arbitrators said, " Why, Sir, this is all to 
no purpose ; for if you resolve not to perform it, where 
is the utility of the writing ? Why do you promise 
what you do not intend to perform ? This will but 
kindle a new flame to begin v/ith, when the time ex- 
pires.'' " Because," said he, " I am satisfied in my 
mind that my son is alive." " Come," said his wife, 
speaking to the gentleman who had argued with her 
husband, " let him sign the agreement, and leave me 
to make him perform it." " Well," replied the hus- 
band, " you shall have the writing, and you shall be 
let alone, but I am satisfied you will never ask me to 
perform it." At the end of four months she challenged 
the performance ; accordingly a day was appointed, 
and her two friends, the arbitrators, were invited to 
dinner. Accordingly the writings were brought forth, 
engrossed, and read over; and the husband being won 
over, executed the deeds. When they had settled 
the particulars, and the new deeds were read over, she 
took up the old writings to cancel them ; and, on her 
tearing off the seal, they suddenly heard a rushing 
noise in the parlour where they sat, as if somebody 
had come in at the door of the room which opened 
from the hall, and passed through the room towards 
the garden door, which was shut. 

They were all much surprised at it, for the noise 
was very distinct; but they saw nothing. The woman 
turned pale, and became very nervous ; however, as 
nothing was seen, she soon recovered, and said to her 
husband, '' What, have you laid your plot to bring up 
more devils ? " The man sat composed, though he 



THE WICKED STEP-MOTHER. 9 

was not less surprised. One of the gentlemen said to 
him, '' What is the meaning of all this ? " " I protest, 
Sir," he replied, " I know no more of it than you do." 
*' What can it it be then 1 " said the other gentleman. 
** I cannot conceive," said he, *' for I am utterly un- 
acquainted with such things." " Have you heard 
nothing from your son.? " asked the gentleman. " Not 
one word these five years," replied the father. " Have 
you not written to him about this transaction } " said 
the gentleman. " Not a word, for I know not where 
to address a letter to him," he answered. " Sir," said 
the gentleman, " I have heard much of apparitions, 
but I never saw one in my life, nor did I ever believe 
there was any such thing possible, and indeed I have 
seen nothing now ; but the passing of some body or 
spirit across the room just now was evident ; I heard 
it distinctly." " Nay," said the other arbitrator, '' I 
felt the wind of it as it passed by me. Pray," he 
added, turning to the husband, " did you see anything 
yourself } " *' No," he replied. The first arbitrator 
enquired, " Have you seen anything at any other time, 
or heard any voices or noises, or had any dreams about 
this matter 1 " " Indeed I have several times dreamt 
my son was alive, and that I had spoken with him , 
and once I had asked him why he was so undutiful as 
not to let me hear from him in so many years, seeing 
he knew that I had it my power to disinherit him," 
he answered. " Well, Sir, and what answer did he 
give t " " I never dreamt so far on as to have his 
answer." " And what do you think of it yourself,'' 
said the arbitrator, '' do you think he is dead 1 " ''No, 
indeed," said the father, ''I believe he is alive, and 
that I am about to commit myself" " Truly," said 
the second arbitrator, ''it begins to shock me; I don't 
care to meddle any more with it." The wife having 
somewhat recovered her spirits, and being specially 
encouraged because she saw nothing, now started up 



I O SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

— " To what purpose is all this discourse," said she, 
"is it not already agreed upon ? What do we come 
here for ? " The first arbitrator agreed ; " I think we 
meet now not to enquire into why it is done, but to 
execute things according to agreement ; and what are 
we frightened at ? " " I am not frightened/' said the 
wife ; "come, sign the deed, I'll cancel the old writings 
if forty devils are in the room." Upon this she took 
up one of the deeds, and was about to tear off the 
seal. 

At that moment the same casement again flew open, 
and the shadow of a body was seen standing in the 
garden, the head reaching up to the window, and the 
face looking into the room, staring directly at the 
woman with a stern countenance: '^ Hold',' said the 
spectre, as if speaking to the woman, and immediately 
shut the casement, and disappeared. 

It is impossible to describe the consternation which 
this second apparition created in the whole company; 
the wife screamed out, fell into hysterics, and let the 
writing drop from her hands : the two arbitrators were 
exceedingly terrified, and one of them took up the 
award signed by them, in which they empowered the 
husband to execute the deed disinheriting the son. 

" I dare say," said he, " be the spirit a good or a 
bad one, it will not be against cancelling this," and he 
tore his name out of the award ; the other did the 
same, and both of them rose from their seats and said 
they would have no more to do in the affair. This 
put an end to the whole business. 

In about four or five months after the second ap- 
parition, the son arrived from the East Indies, whither 
he had sailed four years before, in a Portuguese ship 
from Lisbon. Upon being particularly enquired of 
about these things, and especially v/hether he had any 
knowledge of them, or had seen any apparition, or 
other extraordinary intimation concerning what was 



THE TWO BROTHERS, II 

going on against him at home; he constantly affirmed 
that he had not, except that he once dreamt his father 
had written him a very angry letter, threatening him, 
that if he did not come home, he would disinherit 
him, and cut him off without a shilling. This, he 
added, w^as one of the principal reasons of his desire 
to return to England upon the first opportunity. — 
From Moretons History of Apparitions, 



IV. 

The Two Bi'others. 

Mr. R N , and Mr. J N , brothers, 

whose education had been equally liberal, they having 
been members of the University of Oxford, displayed, 
at the conclusion of their college days, tastes diame- 
trically opposite. The former was for venturing 
everything, and running all hazards, in order to push 
his fortune ; whilst the maxim of the other was to 
regulate his conduct by the strictest prudence and 
economy, and leave nothing to chance. 

When their studies were finished, they both returned 
to their father, an eminent merchant of Bristol. For 
some time after their return, they were entirely occu- 
pied with deliberations what professions they should 
adopt, what plan of life they should pursue for the 
remainder of their days. 

In the midst of these golden dreams, the father, by 
a sudden and unexpected turn of fortune, failed, and 
took so to heart the loss of his wealth, that he died in 
a few days, leaving his two sons in a state of indi- 
gence. The eldest brother declared, that he was re- 
solved rather to risk death than to stay at Bristol, 
wliere he had formerly lived in affluence. 

The brothers accordingly took leave of each other, 
the former bent upon buffeting fortune, and the latter 



12 SIGNS BEFORE DEATH. 

resolving to avail himself of the slight resources 
which he might jfind in the place of his nativity. 

He accordingly went to live with a merchant, an 
acquaintance of his father, by whom he was employed 

as clerk. Mr. R N went to London, where 

his money was soon exhausted, and he became re- 
duced to such an extremity that having been four 
days without food, he one evening wandered about 
St. James's Park in despair, and presently sat down 
upon one of the benches, and taking a knife out of his 
pocket, was upon the point of committing suicide, 
when suddenly looking up, he saw a figure of great 
beauty. It appeared to him to be a handsome youth, 
whose eyes shone with a starry brightness, and a glory 
seemed to play about his hair. 

Lifting up his eyes to this angelic appearance, he 
heard these words distinctly pronounced: ''Hold, rash 
mortal! " The despairing man immediately desisted, 
and the phantom advancing forward beckoning him, 
he rose up and followed it : it suddenly vanished, and 
he walked on with an exultation he could not account 
for, till at last he met a soldier, who pressed him to 
enter a public-house, which was the rendezvous of a 
recruiting party. 

Here the mirth but little suited the more serious 
mood of Mr. R N— - — - ; but as he was quite des- 
titute, he readily accepted the proposal to enlist. The 
regiment which he joined was soon after ordered 
abroad, and he signalized himself at the siege of 
Quebec, and upon several other occasions, and soon 
rose to a lieutenancy. Upon his return to England, 
he found himself reduced to half-pay, which proved 
insufficient to meet the demands of his pleasure. 

The greatest source of expense was, as usual, an 
unhappy attachment. This led him to frequent all 
the places of amusement, and to expend large sums 
of money upon dress and jewellery. 



THE TWO BROTHERS, 13 

But her attractions served only to render her more 
dangerous : in truth, she possessed the most fascinat- 
ing lovehness, which was greatly heightened by her 
conversational charms. In the meantime her gay 
admirer, by gentlemanly appearance and plausible 
address, easily obtained credit to a large amount ; but, 
at length, his creditors became so importunate, that 
he was in the greatest perplexity, and the thought of 
having imposed upon persons who had so generously 
obliged him, drove him almost into a phrenzy. His 
evil genius now suggested to him a course almost 
equally desperate as that of suicide, which he had 
already attempted, namely, that of going upon the 
highway. 

He accordingly provided himself with pistols, and 
one evening went to Blackheath. He rode to and fro 
in the utmost perturbation of mind ; his terror still 
increasing as the night approached, till at last he be- 
held the same angelic appearance that he had seen 
before, which seemed to point to the road to London. 
Even in the darkness of the night the whole figure 

appeared very manifest, and no sooner had Mr. R 

N beheld it, but all his agitation and disorder 

subsided, and, with the utmost composure of mind, he 
returned to London, having taken the precaution of 
throwing away his pistols, lest they might give rise 
to any suspicion of the purpose which he had in leav- 
ing town. 

Upon his return to his lodgings, he broke up his 
connexion with the pernicious woman who had given 
him such terrible advice. 

The grand source of his inquietude still remained. 
He was apprehensive every moment of being arrested, 
and thrown into jail by his creditors. He now formed 
a resolution to go over to Ireland, thinking he could 
there be secure from his creditors. Whilst his mind 
was occupied with these thoughts he was arrested, and 



14 S/GJVS BEFORE DEA TH. 

there being several actions against him at the same 
time, he was obliged to get himself removed to the 
Fleet by Habeas Corpus. A man of his high tone of 
mind could but ill brook confinement. The days hung 
heavily on his hands, and he was obliged to have re- 
course to wine to dispel the gloom by which his 

mind was overcast. Whilst Mr. R N led 

this life of care and inquietude, he one night had a 
dream, which revived his drooping spirit. He dreamed 
that the same vision which had appeared to him twice 
before came in the night, and opened the gates of his 
prison ; and the ideas which passed in his imagination 
took so strong a hold upon his mind, that when he 
awoke in the morning, he could not for some time 
be persuaded that he was still in prison. The delusion 
soon vanished, but he retained his cheerfulness, and 
this seemingly groundless joy was soon followed by 
a real one. 

About noon he heard himself enquired for, and im- 
mediately knew the voice to be that of his brother. 
He rushed into his arms, and embraced him with the 
utmost transport. When their first emotions of joy 

Vv^ere somewhat subsided, Mr. J N gave his 

brother to understand that he had accumulated a for- 
tune by East India trade; and enquiring into the state 
of his affairs, and the sum for which he was in con- 
finement, he paid the del t and set him at liberty that 
evening. — Fro77t H, Weiby. 



V. 

Dr, Farrer and his DattgJiter. 

In 1678, Dr. Farrar, physician to Charles the Second, 
made a compact with his daughter, Mrs. Pearson, that 
the first of them that died, ifh appy, should appear, 
after death, to the sirvivor. 



THE DRUMMER OF TED WORTH, IS 

Some time after, the daughter, who lived at Gilling- 
ham Lodge, two miles from Salisbury, fell in labour, 
and owing to a noxious draught being given instead of 
another prepared for her, she suddenly died. 

Her father lived in London, and the night on which 
she died, she opened his curtains and gazed upon him. 
He had before heard nothing of her illness ; but upon 
this apparition confidently told his maid that his 
daughter was dead,, and two days after he received the 
news. — From Dr, //". More, 



VL 

The Dnimmer of Tcdworth. 

Every one has heard of the comedy of ^' The Drum- 
mery or the Haunted Housed' celebrated enough in its 
day ; but the popularity of which ceased when the 
affair was no longer a topic of public conversation. 
The circumstances which gave rise to this perform- 
ance are detailed as follows, by Glanvil, by whose 
statement it appears that the matter turned out to be 
no farce for Mr. Mompesson, the proprietor of the 
house. 

Mr. John Mompesson of Tedworth, being in March, 
i66i, at a neighbouring town, called Ludgarshal, and 
hearing a drum beat there, he inquired v/hat it meant. 
The bailiff, at whose house he was told him, that they 
had been for some days troubled with an idle drum- 
mer, who demanded money of the constable by virtue 
of a pretended pass, which he thought was counterfeit. 
Upon this Mr. Mompesson sent for the fellow, and 
asked him by what authority he went up and down the 
country in that manner with his drum. The drummer 
answered, he had good authority, and produced his 
pass, with a warrant under the hands of Sir William 
Cawley and Colonel Ayliff, of Gretenham. Mr. Mom- 



1 6 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

pesson knowing the handwriting of these gentlemen, 
discovered the pass and warrant to be counterfeit, and 
thereupon commanded the vagrant to give up his 
drum, and charged the constable to carry him before 
the Justice of the Peace. The fellow then confessed 
the cheat, and begged earnestly to have his drum. 
Mr. Mompesson told him, that if he understood from 
Colonel Ayliff, whose drummer he said he was, that 
he had been an honest man, he should have it again, 
but in the meantime he would secure it ; so he left 
the drum with the bailiff, and the drummer in the 
constable's hands, who it seems was prevailed on by 
the fellow's entreaties to let him go. 

About the middle of April following, when Mr. 
Mompesson was preparing for a journey to London, 
the bailiff sent the drum to his house ; on his return 
from his journey, his wife told him that they had been 
much frightened in the night by thieves, and that the 
house had very nearly been entered. He had not 
been at home above three nights, when the same noise 
was heard that had disturbed his family in his absence 
— a very great knocking at the doors. Hereupon he 
got up, and went about the house with a brace of 
pistols in his hands; he opened the door where the 
great knocking was, and then he heard the noise at 
another door, he opened that also, and went out round 
the house, but could discover nothing, only he still 
heard a strange noise. When he got back to bed the 
noise was continued on the top of the house for some 
time, and then by degrees subsided. 

After this the noise of thumping and drumming was 
very frequent, usually five nights together, and then it 
would intermit three. It was on the outside of the 
house, which was built chiefly of wood. It constantly 
came as they were going to sleep, whether early or 
late. After a month's disturbance outside, it came 
into the room where the drum lay, four or five nights 



THE DRUMMER OF TED WORTH. 1/ 

after they were in bed, and continued almost two 
hours. The sign of it just before it came was, a 
hurling in the air over the house, and, at its going, 
like that at the breaking up of a guard. It con- 
tinued in this room for the space of two months, 
which time Mr. Mompesson himself lay there to 
observe it. In the fore part of the night, it used to 
be very troublesome, but after two hours all was 
quiet. 

Mrs. Mompesson being brought to bed, there was 
but little noise during her confinement, nor any for 
three weeks after, till she had recovered her strength. 
But after this cessation it returned in a ruder manner 
than before, and followed and vexed the youngest 
children, beating their bedsteads with much violence. 
By placing the hands on them, one could feel no blows 
but could see the beds shake ; for an hour toge- 
ther it would beat Round-heads and Cuckolds, the 
Tat-too, and several other points of war, as well as any 
drummer. After this, a scratching under the children's 
beds was heard, as if by something that had iron talons. 
It would also lift the children up in their beds, follow 
them from one room to another,and for a while haunted 
none particularly but them. 

There was a loft in the house whither they removed 
the children, putting them to bed while it was day- 
light, but they were no sooner laid down than their 
troubler was with them as before. 

On the fifth of November, 1661, a great noise was 
heard, and a servant observing two boards in the 
children's room seeming to move, he bid the unseen 
agency to bring him one of them ; upon which the 
board came (nothing moving it that he saw) within a 
yard of him ; the man added, '' Nay let me have it in 
my hand ;'' upon which it was pushed quite close to 
him again, and so up and down, to and fro, at least 
twenty times together, till Mr. Mompesson forbad his 

2 



1 8 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

servant such familiarities. This was in the day-time, 
and seen by a whole room-full of people. That 
morning it left a sulphurous smell behind it, which 
was very offensive. At night the minister, one Mr. 
Cragg, and divers of the neighbours, came to the 
house on a visit. The minister went to prayers with 
them, kneeling at the children's bedside, where it was 
then very troublesome and loud. During prayer- 
time it withdrew, but returned as soon as prayers 
were done, and then in sight of the company the 
chairs walked about the room of themselves, the 
children's shoes were hurled over their heads, and 
every loose thing moved about the chamber. At the 
same time a bed-staff was thrown at the minister, 
which hit him on the leg, but so gently that a bit of 
wool could not fall more softly, and it was observed, 
that it stopt just where it fell, without rolling or 
moving from the place. 

Mr. Mompesson perceiving that it so much perse- 
cuted the little children, lodged them out at a neigh- 
bour's house, taking his eldest daughter, who was 
about ten years of age, into his own chamber, where 
it had not been for a month. As soon as she was in 
bed the disturbance began there again, and continued 
three weeks. After this the house where the children 
lodged out, happening to be full of strangers, they 
were taken home, and no disturbance having been 
known in the parlour, they were lodged there, where 
also their persecutor found them and plucked them 
by the hair and night-clothes, but made no noises. 

It was noted, that when the noise was loudest, and 
came with the most sudden and surprising violence, 
no dog about the house would move, though the 
knocking was often so boisterous and rude, that it 
had been heard at a considerable distance from the 
house. The servants sometimes were lifted up in 
their beds and let gently down again without hurt, 



THE DRUMMER OF TED WORTH, 1 9 

at other times it would lie like a great weight upon 
their feet. 

About the latter end of December, 1661, the drum- 
ming was less frequent, and then they heard a noise 
like the jingling of money. 

After this it desisted from the ruder noises, and 
employed itself in trifling, and less troublesome tricks. 
On Christmas-eve, a little before day, one of the 
young boys arising out of his bed, was hit on a sore 
place upon his heel with the latch of the door, although 
the pin that it was fastened with was so small that it was 
a difficult matter to pick it out. The night after Christ- 
mas-day, it threw some clothes about the room, and 
hid a bible in the ashes. In such silly tricks it fre- 
quently indulged. 

After this, it was very troublesome to a servant of 
Mr. Mompesson's, who was a stout fellow, and of sober 
conversation ; this man lay within during the greatest 
disturbance, and for several nights something would 
endeavour to pluck his clothes off the bed, so that he 
was fain to tug hard to keep them on, and sometimes 
they would be plucked from him by main force, and 
his shoes thrown at his head ; and now and then he 
would find himself forcibly held as if bound hand 
and foot, but whenever he could make use of his 
sword, and struck with it, the spirit quitted its hold. 

A little after these contests a son of Mr. Thomas 
Bennet, whose workman the drummer had sometimes 
been, came to the house and told Mr. Mompesson 
of some words that he had spoken, which it seems were 
not well received ; for as soon as they were in bed, 
the drum was beat up very violently and loudly ; the 
gentleman arose and called his man to him, who was 
in the same room with Johnj'ust mentioned. As soon 
as Mr. Bennet's man was gone, John heard a rustling 
noise in his chamber like the movements of a person 
in silk, and something came to his bedside ; the man 



20 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

presently reached after his sword, which he found 
held from him, and it was with difficulty and much tug- 
ging that he regained it, but as soon as he had done 
so the unseen power left him : it was always observed 
that it avoided a sword. 

About the beginning of January, 1662, they were 
wont to hear a singing in the chimney before it came 
down ; and one night, about this time, lights were seen 
in the house. One of these came into Mr. Mompes- 
son's chamber ; this light seemed blue and glimmering, 
and caused great dazzling in the eyes of those who 
saw it. After the light, something was heard coming 
up the stairs, as if without shoes. The light was seen 
also four or five times in the children's chamber ; and 
the maids confidently affirm that the doors were at 
least ten times opened and shut in their sight, and 
when they were open they heard a noise as if half a 
dozen had entered together, after which some were 
heard to walk about the room, and one always with the 
same rustling noise. Mr. Mompesson himself once 
heard these noises. 

During the time of the knocking, when many were 
present, a gentleman of the company said, ''Satan, 
if the drummer set thee to work^ give three knocks 
and no more ; " this it did very distinctly, and stopped. 
Then the gentleman knocked to see if it would answer 
him as it was wont, but it did not ; for further confir- 
mation, he bid it, if it were the drummer, give five 
knocks and no more that night, which it did, and left 
the house quiet. This was done in the presence of 
Sir Thomas Chamberlain, of Oxfordshire, and divers 
others. 

On Saturday morning, an hour before day, January 
10, a drum was heard to beat outside Mr. Mompes- 
son's chamber, from whence it went to the other end 
of the house, where some gentlemen strangers slept, 



THE DRUMMER OF TED WORTH. 21 

played at their door four or five tunes, and then 
ceased. 

One morning-, Mr. Mompesson rising early to go on 
a journey, heard a great noise in the room where the 
children lay, and running down with a pistol in his 
hand, heard a voice crying, " A witch, a witch." Upon 
his entrance all was quiet. This cry had been heard 
once before. 

Having one night played some little tricks at the 
foot of Mr. Mompesson's bed, it went to another, where 
one of his daughters lay ; there it went from side to 
side, lifting her up as it passed under. At one time 
there were three kinds of noises in the bed, they thrust 
at the places whence the sounds came with a sword, 
but it shifted, and seemed carefully to avoid the thrust, 
sometimes getting under the child. The night after, 
it came panting like a dog out of breath ; upon which 
one took a bed-staff to strike at it, which was caught 
out of her hand and thrown away, and, company 
coming up, the room was presently filled with a noisome 
smell and became very hot, though it was winter time 
and there was no fire. It continued in the bed pant- 
ing and scratching for an hour and a half, and then 
went into the next chamber, where it knocked a little, 
and seemed to rattle a chain ; this continued for two 
or three nights together. 

After this, the lady's bible was found in the ashes, 
the paper sides being downwards. Mr. Mompesson 
took it up, and observed that it lay open at the 3rd 
chapter of St. Mark, where there is mention of the un- 
clean spirits falling down before our Saviour, and of 
his giving power to the twelve to cast out devils, and 
of the scribe's opinion, that he cast them out through 
Beelzebub. 

The next night they strewed ashes over the cham- 
ber, to see what impressions it would leave ; in the 
morning they found in one place the resemblance of 



22 SIGNS BEFORE DEATH, 

a great claw, in another of a lesser, some letters in 
another, which they could make nothing of, besides 
many circles and scratches in the ashes. 

" About this time," says Glanvil, '^ I went to the 
house to enquire the truth of those things of which 
there was so loud a report. It had ceased from its 
drumming and ruder noises before I came, but most 
of the more remarkable circumstances before related, 
were confirmed to me there by several of the neigh- 
bours together, who had been present at the time. 
At this time it used to haunt the children, beginning 
as soon as they were in bed. They went to bed the 
night I was there about eight o'clock, a maid-servant 
came down immediately afterwards and told us //was 
come. The neighbours who were there, and two 
ministers who had seen and heard it frequently, went 
away, but Mr. Mompesson and I, and a gentleman 
who came with me, went up. I heard a strange 
scratching as I went up the stairs, and when we came 
into the room I perceived it was just behind the bol- 
ster of the children's bed, and seemed to be against 
the tick. It was as loud a scratching as one with long 
nails could make upon a bolster. There were two 
little girls in the bed, between seven and eight years 
old. I saw their hands out of the clothes, and they 
could not contribute to the noise that was behind 
their heads ; they had become used to it, and had 
always somebody or other in the chamber with them, 
and therefore seemed not to be much troubled. I, 
standing at the bed's head, thrust my hand behind 
the bolster, directing it to the place whence the noise 
seemed to come, whereupon the noise ceased there, 
and was heard in another part of the bed ; but when 
I had taken out my hand it returned, and was heard 
in the same place as before. I had been told it would 
imitate noises, and made trial by scratching several 
times upon the sheet, as five, and seven, and ten. 



THE DRUMMER OF TED WORTH, 2$ 

which it followed, always stopping at my number. I 
searched under and behind the bed, turned up the 
clothes to the bed-cords, grasped the bolster, sounded 
the wall behind, and made all the search possible, to 
find if there were any trick or contrivance, or common 
cause of it ; so also did my friend, but we could dis- 
cover nothing. I was then verily persuaded, and am 
so still, that the noise was made by some demon or 
spirit. After it had scratched about half an hour or 
more, it went into the midst of the bed under the 
children, and there seemed to pant like a dog out of 
breath, very loudly. I put my hand to the place, 
and felt the bed bearing up against it, as if something 
within had thrust it up. I grasped the feathers, to 
feel if any living thing were in it. I looked under and 
everywhere about, to see if there were any dog or cat 
or any such creature in the room, and so did we all, 
but found nothing. The motion it caused by this 
panting was so strong, that it shook the room and 
windows very sensibly. It continued thus more than 
half-an-hour, while my friend and I stayed in the 
room. During the panting, I thought I saw some- 
thing moving in a linen-bag, that hung up against 
another bed in the room. I stepped forward and 
caught it by the upper end with one hand, with which 
I held it, and drew it through the other, but found 
nothing in it. There was nobody near to shake the 
bag, or if there had, no one could have caused such a 
movement, which seemed to be from within, as if a 
living creature had moved in it. This passage I men- 
tion incidentally, because it depended on my single 
testimony ; but having told it to learned and inquisi- 
tive men, who thought it not altogether inconsiderable, 
I have now added it here. 

" It will I know, be said by some that my friend and 
I were under some fright, and so fancied noises and 
sights that were not. This is the eternal evasion.. 



24 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

But I certainly know for my own part, that during 
the whole time of my being in the room, and in the 
house, I was under no more constraint of fear than I 
am while I write this relation. And if I know that I 
am now awake, and that I see the objects that are 
before me, I know that I heard and saw the particu- 
lars I have told. There is, I am sensible, no great 
matter for story in them, but there is so much as con- 
vinceth me that there was somewhat extraordinary, 
and what we usually call preternatural, in the business. 

" I shall now briefly mention two or three other in- 
cidents of my visit to Tedworth. My friend and I 
lay in the chamber where the first and chief disturb- 
ance had been. We slept well all night, but early in 
the morning I was awakened (and I awakened my 
bed-fellow) by a loud knocking just without our 
chamber door. I asked who was there several times, 
but the knocking still continued without answer. At 
last I said, ' In the name of God who is it, and what 
would you have } ' To which a voice answered, 
' Nothing with you.' We, thinking it had been some 
servant of the house, went to sleep again. But speak- 
ing of it to Mr. Mompesson when we came down, he 
assured us that no one of the house slept that way, or 
had business thereabout, and that his servants were 
not up till he called them. They all affirmed, much 
later, that the noise was not made by them. Mr. 
Mompesson had told us before that it would be gone 
in the middle of the night, and come again divers 
times early in the morning, about four o'clock, and 
this I suppose was about that time." 

But to proceed with Mr. Mompesson^s own parti- 
culars. There came one morning a light into the 
children's chamber, and a voice crying, " A witch, a 
witch," at least an hundred times. 

Mr. Mompesson, at another time (during the day), 
seeing some wood move that was in the chimney of a 



THE DRUMMER OF TED WORTH, 2$ 

room where he was, as of itself, discharged a pistol 
into it, after which they found several drops of blood 
on the hearth, and in places on the stairs. 

For two or three nights after the discharge of the 
pistol, there was a calm in the house, but soon the in- 
visible agent came again, applying itself now to a 
little child newly taken from nurse, which it so per- 
secuted, that it would not let the poor infant rest for 
two nights together, nor allow candles to remain in 
the room, but carried them away lighted, up the chim- 
ney, or threw them under the bed. It so scared this 
child by leaping upon it, that for some hours it could 
not be recovered from the fright, so that they were 
forced again to remove the children out of the house. 
The night after this removal, something about mid- 
night came up stairs, and knocked at Mr. Mompes- 
son's door, but he lying still, it went up another pair 
of stairs, to his man's chamber, to whom it appeared, 
standing at his bed's foot ; the exact shape and pro- 
portion he could not discover, but he said he saw a 
great body, with two red glaring eyes, which, for some 
time, were fixed steadily upon him, and at length dis- 
appeared. 

About the beginning of April, 1663, a gentleman 
who slept in the house had all his money turned black 
in his pockets ; and Mr. Mompesson, coming one 
morning into his stable, found the horse he was wont 
to ride lying on the ground with one of his hinder legs 
in his mouth, and so fastened there that it was only 
with difficulty that several men succeeded in getting 
it out with a lever. After this there were some other 
remarkable things, but the account goes no farther ; 
only Mr. Mompesson positively asserted that after- 
wards the house was several nights beset with seven 
or eight somethings in the shape of men, who, as soon 
as a gun was discharged, would shuffle away together. 

The drummer was tried at the assizes at Sahsbury 



26 SIGIVS BEFORE DEA TH. 

upon this occasion. He was committed first to Glou- 
cester gaol for stealing, and a Wiltshire man coming 
to see him, he asked what news in Wiltshire ; the 
visitor said he knew of none. ^' No ? " saith the drum- 
mer, '' do not you hear of the drumming at a gentle- 
man's house at Tedworth ? '' " That I do enough," 
said the other. " I,'' quoth the drummer, " have 
plagued him (or to that purpose) and he shall never 
be quiet until he hath made me satisfaction for taking 
away my drum." Upon information of this, the 
fellow was tried for a witch at Sarum, and all the 
main circumstances here related were sworn at the 
assizes, by the minister of the parish and divers others 
of the most intelligent and substantial inhabitants, 
who had been eye and ear witnesses of them, time 
after time, for several years together. 

The fellow was condemned to transportation, and 
accordingly sent away but by some means (it is said by 
raising storms and affrighting the seamen) he made 
a shift to come back again. During all the time of his 
restraint and absence, the house was quiet, but as soon 
as he was set at liberty, the disturbance returned. 

He had been a soldier under Cromwell, and used to 
talk much of gallant books he had of an old fellow, 
who was accounted a wizard. 

This is the sum of Mr. Mompesson's account, partly 
from his own mouth, related before many persons, 
who had been witnesses of all, and who confirmed his 
relation ; and partly from his own letters, from which 
the order and series of things is taken. The same 
particulars he sent also to Dr. Creed, who was at that 
time Doctor of the Chair in Oxford. 

Mr. Mompesson suffered by it in his name, in his 
estate, in all his affairs, and in the general peace of his 
family. The unbelievers in spirits and witches took 
him for an impostor. Many others regarded the per- 
mission of such an extraordinary evil to be the judg- 



A MYSTERIOUS MEMORANDUM. 2J 

ment of God upon him for some notorious wickedness 
or impiety. Thus his name was continually exposed 
to censure, and his estate suffered, by the concourse 
of people from all parts to his house, by the diversion 
it gave him from his affairs, and by the discouragement 
of servants by reason of which he could hardly get any 
to live with him. 

The drummer of Tedworth met with great opposi- 
tion when first narrated, and several violent controver- 
sies took place. 



VIL 

A Mysterious Memorandtim. 

Towards the end of the last century, a clergyman, 
in Lancashire, about to begin to read prayers at his 
church, saw a paper lying in his book, which he sup- 
posed to be the banns of marriage. He opened it, 
and saw written in a fair and distinct hand, the fol- 
lowing : " John P. and James D. have murdered a 
travelling man, have robbed him of his effects, and 
buried him in (such an) orchard." The minister was 
extremely startled, and asked his clerk hastily if he 
had placed any paper in the prayer-book. The clerk 
declared he had not. The minister prudently concealed 
the contents of the paper, for the two names therein 
contained were those of the clerk and sexton of the 
church. 

The minister then went directly to a magistrate, 
told him what had happened, and took the paper out 
of his pocket to read it, when, to his great surprise, 
nothing appeared thereon ! The magistrate now said 
that his head must certainly have been distempered, 
when he imagined such strange contents upon a 
blank piece of paper. The clergyman, by earnest 
entreaties, however, prevailed on the justice to grant 



28 SIGNS BEFORE BE A TH. 

his warrant against the clerk and sexton ; who were 
taken up on suspicion, and separately confined and 
examined, when many contradictions appeared in 
their statements ; the sexton, who kept an alehouse, 
owned having lodged such a man at his house, and the 
clerk said he was that evening at the sexton's. It was 
now thought proper to search their houses, in which 
were found several pieces of gold, and goods belonging 
to men that travel the country; yet they gave so 
tolerable an account of these that no positive proof 
could be made out, till the clergyman, recollecting 
that the paper mentioned the dead body to be buried 
in such an orchard, a circumstance which had before 
escaped his memory, the place was searched and the 
body was found ; on hearing which the sexton con- 
fessed the fact, accusing the clerk as his accomplice, 
and they were both executed accordingly. — From H, 
Welby. 



VIII. 

Warning to James IV, at Linlithgow, 

While James IV. stayed at Linlithgow, to gather up 
the scattered remains of his army, which had been 
defeated by the Earl of Surrey at Flodden-field, he 
went into the church of St Michael there, to hear 
evening prayer. While he was at his devotion, a re- 
markable figure of an ancient man of reverend aspect, 
with flowing amber-coloured hair hanging over his 
shoulders, his forehead high, and inclining to baldness, 
his garments of a fine blue colour, somewhat long and 
girded together with a fine white cloth, was seen en- 
quiring for the king ; when his majesty being pointed 
out to him, he made his way through the crowd till he 
came to him, and then, with a clownish simplicity, 
leaning over the canon s seat, he addressed him in the 



APPARITION A T BELFAST IN IRELAND, 29 

following words: — ^* Sir, I am sent hither to entreat 
you to delay your intended expedition for this time, 
and proceed no farther, for if you do, you will be un- 
fortunate, and not prosper in your enterprise, nor any 
of your followers. I am further charged to warn you 
not to follow the acquaintance, company, or counsel 
of women, as you value your life, honour, and estate/' 
After giving him this admonition, he withdrew him- 
self back again through the crowd, and disappeared. 
When service w^as ended, the king enquired earnestly 
after him, but he could not be found or heard of any 
where, neither could any of the bystanders feel or 
perceive how, when, or where he passed from them, 
having in a manner vanished from their sight. — From 
Buchanan's History of Scotland. 



IX. 

Apparition at Belfast in Ireland. 

There was once a long contest between Lemuel 
Matthews, archdeacon in the county of Down, and 
Claudius Gilbert, minister of Belfast, about their right 
to Drumbeg, a small parish near Belfast ; and it proved 
troublesome to the parishioners, who had paid their 
dues to Mr. Gilbert, the incumbent. The archdeacon 
claimed it to be paid to him also, for which he pro- 
cured a warrant ; and in the execution of it by his 
servants, at the house of one Charles Loftin, they 
offered some violence to his wife, who refused entrance, 
and who died of the injury a few weeks after. Mrs. 
L. being an infirm woman, little notice was taken of 
her death till some time after, when, by her strange 
appearance to one Thomas Donelson, a witness of the 
violence done to her, he was induced to commence 
a prosecution against Robert Eccleson, the criminal. 
She appeared several times, but chiefly upon one 



30 S/GJVS BEFORE BE A TH. 

Sunday evening. Before her last coming (for she 
appeared three times that day), several neighbours 
were called in, to whom he gave notice that she would 
re-appear, she again charged him to prosecute Eccle- 
son ; and the voice, as also Donelson's reply, the 
people heard, though they saw no shape. Upon this 
Donelson deposed what he knew, before Mr. Randal 
Brice, a justice of the peace, and confirmed all at the 
assizes at Down, in the year 1685, where the several 
witnesses were sworn ; and their examinations were 
entered in the records of the assize, to the amazement 
of all the country, and of the judges. Eccleson 
hardly escaped with his life, but was burnt in the hand. 
In 1796 there were many witnesses of this circum- 
stance yet alive, particularly Sarah, the wife of Charles 
Loftin, son to the deceased woman ; and one William 
Holiday and his wife. — From Baxters World of 
Spirits, 1796. 



X. 

The Merchant's Apprentices. 

A certain merchant having formed a trading estab- 
lishment in one of the English colonies in America, 
he prepared to send over several of his servants. One 
of these already fitted out, and prepared to embark, 
his cargo actually being on board the ship at Graves- 
end, was engaged in the office with his master who, 
being called away, asked him to remain until his 
return. When he returned his man was seated there, 
with the book-keeper also, writing as he left him. 

At this moment, the merchant had occasion to 
return to the dining-room, from whence he came ; 
leaving the youth in the counting-house. 

When he reached the top of the stairs, the young 
man was seated at dinner with the other servants ; the 



THE MERCHANTS APPRENTICES, 31 

room they dined in being a small parlour, which 
opened against the stairs, he could see him from, the 
upper part of the staircase, and could not be deceived. 

The master did not speak to him ; but he sent his 
servant immediately to look, and he also saw the 
youth at dinner. 

The young gentleman sailed in the vessel just men- 
tioned, and arrived safely in America. He left his 
elder brother in London, who was at that time 
studying physic. Shortly after, this brother had 
an accidental reconnoitre with a gentleman in Short 
Street, leading from Fleet Street into Salisbury Square; 
and being a complete master of his weapon, he 
wounded his antagonist, and drove him into a tavern 
in the street ; whence came out two other men also 
with swords ; but both of them found the gentleman 
so much an overmatch for them, that they left him 
as fast as the first. A fourth now came out with a 
fire-poker, taken hastily out of the tavern-kitchen, 
and running at this gentleman with it, knocked him 
down and fractured his skull, of which wound he after- 
wards died. 

While this was done in London, his brother wrote 
from Boston, to his master the merchant, to the follow- 
ing effect : 

" I beg you will be pleased, in your return to this, to 
let me have some account, as much as conveniently 
may be, how my brother does, and what condition he 
is in ; which importunity I hope you will excuse, 
when you read the following account : — 

*' On the 30th of June last, about six o'clock in the 
mornings lying in bed, and broad awake, my brother 
or an apparition of my brother, came to the bed's 
feet and opened the curtain, looking full in my face, 
but did not speak. Lwas very much frightened ; but 
however, I so far recovered as to say to him, Brother, 
what is the matter with you "i 



32 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 

" He had a napkin-cap on his head, which was very- 
bloody ; he looked very pale and ghastly, and said, 
' I am basely murdered by one (naming the person) ; 
but I shall have justice done me ; ' and then dis- 
appeared." 

This letter was so dated, that it was impossible any 
account of the disaster could have reached America 
within that time. — Fro7n Moreton on Apparitions, 



XL 

Sir Charles Lee's Daughter. 

Sir Charles Lee, by his first lady, had only one 
daughter, of which she died in child-birth. After 
her death, her sister. Lady Everard, desired to have 
the child left in her charge till she was marriageable. 
When this time arrived a match was concluded for 
her with Sir William Perkins, but was prevented in 
the following extraordinary manner. 

One Thursday night. Miss Lee imagined that she 
saw a light in her chamber after she was in bed, when 
she rang for her maid, and asked why she had left a 
candle burning in her chamber. The maid said she 
left none, and there was none, but what she brought 
with her at that time. She then said it was the fire ; 
but the maid told her that the fire was quite out. 
About two o'clock she was awaked again, and saw the 
apparition of a little woman between her curtain and 
her pillow, who told her she was her mother, that she 
was happy, and that by twelve o'clock that day she 
should be with her. She again rang for the maid, 
called for her clothes, and when dressed, went into 
her closet, and did not quit it till nine ; when she 
brought out with her a letter sealed to her father, gave 
it to her aunt, the Lady Everard, told her what had 
happened, and desired that, as soon as she was dead, 



COUNCILLOR JOHN BOURNE OF DURLEY. 33 

it might be sent to him. Her aunt, judging her to be 
deHrious, sent to Chelmsford for a physician, who 
came immediately. He could discern no indication 
of what the lady imagined, or any indisposition. The 
young lady insisted upon being bled and then desired 
that the chaplain might be called to read prayers, and 
when prayers were ended, she took her guitar and 
psalm-book, and played and sang melodiously. About 
twelve o'clock, she rose and seated herself in an arm- 
chair, and immediately expired. This event took 
place in 1662, at VValtham in Essex, three miles from 
Chelmsford, and the letter vv^as sent to Sir Charles at 
his house in Warwickshire. It was communicated by 
•him to the Lord Bishop of Gloucester, and was first 
published by Beaumont, in his " Treatise on Spirits.' 



xn. 

Cotmcillor John Bourne of Dicrley. 

Mr. John Bourne, for his skill and integrity, was 
made by his neighbour, John Mallet, Esq. of Enmore, 
the chief of his trustees for his estate. In 1654, Mr. 
Bourne fell sick at his house at Durley, when his life 
was pronounced by a physician to be in immediate 
danger. Within twenty-four hours, when the doctor 
and Mrs. Carlisle, a relation of Mr, Bourne (whose 
husband he had made one of his heirs), were sitting 
by his bedside, the doctor opened the curtains at the 
bed-foot to 'give him air ; when suddenly a great 
iron chest with three locks, standing by the window 
(in which were all the writings and evidences of Mr. 
Mallet's estate), began to open, lock by lock. The 
lid of the iron chest then lifted itself up, and stood 
wide open. Mr. Bourne, who had not spoken for 
twenty-four hours, raised himself, and looking upon 
the chestj cried, '' you say true, you say true, you are 

3 



34 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 

in the right, V\\ be with you by and bye/' The 
patient then lay down and spoke no more. The 
chest closed again, and locked itself lock by lock, and 
Mr. Bourne died within an hour afterwards. — Fro7nH. 
Welby. 

XIII. 

Omens of the Murder of Mr, Blandy. 

Several striking presages are said to have alarmed 
the family of the unfortunate Mr. Blandy, of Henley, 
in Oxfordshire, previous to his untimely death. A 
few days before the death of his wife, a grand chorus 
of music was heard by the daughter and several of the 
servants at midnight, as if proceeding from the garden 
behind the apartment where Mrs. Blandy lay. This 
was succeeded by three distinct knocks on the window 
of Miss Blandy's chamber, adjoining that of her mother. 
Meanwhile the old lady, though insensible of these 
sounds, was horribly frightened by a dream, in which 
she saw her husband drinking a cup administered by 
her daughter ; presently he swelled to a monster, and 
instantly expired. When she awoke in the morning, 
she told the dream to her waiting maid, and died the 
same day. This happened about two years before 
the memorable murder of Mr. Blandy, of the approach 
of which he had several ominous presages. 

The story of this dreadful parricide is briefly as 
follows : — Mr. Blandy was an eminent attorney, and 
by his practice had accumulated several thousand 
pounds : he had an only child, his daughter. Miss 
Mary, whom he gave out to be worth thirty thousand 
pounds; Captain William Cranston, brother of Lord 
Cranston, of Scotland, a short time before the death 
of Mrs. Blandy, was upon a recruiting party in Ox- 
fordshire, and hearing of the lady's fortune, found 
means to introduce himself to the family. He soon 



OMENS OF THE MURDER OF MR. BLAND Y. 35 

gained an ascendency over the mother ; and the 
daughter discovered a very sensible feeling for the 
soldier. But there was an almost insuperable obstacle 
in the way of their mutual happiness. The captain 
had been privately married in Scotland. This, how- 
ever, he hoped to get over by a decree in the supreme 
court of session. That expectation proving but ill- 
founded, Mr. Blandy would not assent to the union 
of his daughter with such a man, however honourable 
by birth. 

The mother died suddenly. The father remained 
inexorable, and could not be induced to grant his 
consent. This sent the Captain's sanguine soul to 
work. The affection of Miss Blandy for this profli- 
gate, almost double her age, was violent. He imposed 
upon her credulity; sent her from Scotland a pre- 
tended love-powder, which he enjoined her to ad- 
minister to her father, in order to gain his affection, 
and procure his consent. This injunction she declined, 
on account of a frightful dream, in which she fancied 
her father falling from a precipice into the ocean. 
The captain wrote a second time ; told her his design 
in words rather enigmatical, but easily understood by 
her. 

She decided to administer the powder, and mixed 
it in his tea ; the father drank, and soon after swelled 
enormously. — '* What have you given me, Mary V 
cried the unhappy dying man, " you have murdered 
me ; ol this I was w^arned, but alas, I thought it was a 
false alarm ! " Thus he died, a most m^elancholy spec- 
tacle. Miss Blandy was taken while attempting to 
run away, conducted to Oxford Castle, lay there till 
the assizes, was found guilty, and executed. Captain 
Cranston went abroad, and died in a miserable state 
of mind soon afterwards. — From H, Welby, 



36 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

XIV. 

The Spider and the King. 

Bruce, the restorer of the Scottish monarchy, in the 
reign of Edward II. of England, having been out one 
day to reconnoitre the enemy, lay that night in a barn 
belonging to a loyal farmer. In the morning, still 
reclining his head on the straw pillow, he beheld a 
spider climbing a beam of the roof. The insect fell 
to the ground and immediately made a second essay 
to ascend. This attracted the notice of the hero, who 
with regret saw the spider fall a second time from the 
same eminence. It made a third attempt without 
success ; and, in short, the monarch, not without a 
mixture of concern and curiosity, beheld the insect no 
less than twelve times baffled in its aim : but the 
thirteenth trial carried its success. The spider gained 
the summit ; when the king, starting from his couch, 
thus exclaimed in soliloquy ; " Behold this despicable 
insect has taught me perseverance ! I will follow its 
example. Have not I been twelve tim.es defeated by 
the superior force of the enemy 1 On one fight more 
hangs the independency of my kingdom." In a few 
days was fought the memorable battle of Bannock- 
burn, in which Bruce proved victorious, slew thirty 
thousand of the invading enemy, and restored the 
monarchy of Scotland.— iFr^M Horace W elby. 

XV. 

Captain Porteous, 

The following narrative was found, in 1796, in the 
.study of an eminent divine of the Church of Scot- 
land : — 

A married lady lately saw, one day at noon, in a 



CAPTAIN FOR TEOUS. 37 

vision, a child, then in embryo in her womb, rise to 
an elevated situation in the world, having the com- 
mand of soldiers, dragged to a dungeon, tried for 
murder, condemned, pardoned, but soon after torn to 
pieces by the populace. After this she imagined 
much confusion arose in the country, till the name of 
her son was rendered odious and detestable to the 
whole nation. 

The child, agreeable to the prediction, proving a son, 
much care was taken in his education, at one of the 
public schools of Edinburgh. When he grew up he 
discovered a strong inclination for travelling. He 
went abroad without the consent of his parents, re- 
mained many years in the king's service, and after 
obtaining his discharge, resided for some years in 
London. All this time he was totally unmindful of 
his filial duty, and indeed he never took the least 
notice of his parents, who now lived in a secluded 
situation about ten miles west from Edinburgh ; to 
which city the hero of the story returned about the 
year 1735, and was, by the interest of a gentleman, 
appointed to the command of the city guard. 

One day, as he was mustering his men in a field 
adjacent to the city, he cast his eyes upon a man of 
Musselburgh, who was reputed to possess the second 
sight. The captain called the augur aside, and re- 
quired him to fortell his destiny. The poor sooth- 
sayer, with much reluctance, informed the curious en- 
quirer that his time would be but short ; that he would 
be a midnight market-man. This threw the officer 
into a violent rage ; and had not the sage softened the 
sentence, by an explanation which gave a different 
turn to it, he certainly would have suffered a severe 
flagellation. 

Soon after this, two notorious smugglers were con- 
demned to die at Edinburgh, for breaking into the 
king's storehouse at Leith, and carrying away goods 



3^ SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 

which had been seized by the officers of the revenue. 
These men, on the Sunday preceding the day of exe- 
cution, were conducted to one of the churches, as was 
customary, under a guard. During the sermon, not- 
withstanding the vigilance of Captain Porteous, one of 
the prisoners found means to make his escape, and 
get clear off. The other was executed on the Wed- 
nesday following in the Grassmarket, contrary to the 
desire of the populace. As soon as the execution had 
taken place, the boys began to pelt the executioner ; 
and the impetuous captain, who had attended with a 
strong party, commanded the men to level their pieces, 
and follow his example. He himself fired upon a 
young gentlemen of a good family from the High- 
lands, and killed him upon the spot ; and the men 
instantly discharging their muskets, killed several of 
the citizens, who were beholding from their windows 
the dreadful spectacle. 

The captain was seized by order of the Lord 
Provost, conducted to the Tolbooth, tried by the 
Lords of Justiciary, and being found guilty on the 
clearest evidence, received sentence of death. 

It was at this time that his mother, who alone was 
living, heard of the awful situation of a man whom 
she knew to be her son, by a letter which she received 
from him during his troubles. The lady readily re- 
collected her dream, flew to Edinburgh in the ut- 
most distress, and would have been quite distracted, 
had she not been informed that great interest was 
making at London in favour of the captain. 

In a few days a respite arrived from the Queen 
(for George II. was then at Hanover), with an order to 
secure the captain in the castle. This quite altered 
the face of affairs with the captain and his mother, 
who began to ridicule the prediction of the dream, 
and the soothsayer. That evening they made merry 
with several friends in the prison, till the captain be- 



VISION OF THEODOSIUS THE ROMAN EMPEROR, 39 

came intoxicated, and consequently unprepared to 
meet the awful fate which awaited him. He was in- 
stantly alarmed by a report that the city was up in 
arms, and intent on his destruction. The noise of 
sledge hammers on the iron doors soon convinced 
him that the alarm was not false. In short, the 
enraged multitude gained entrance, dragged forth the 
captain, led him in triumph along the High street, 
procured a rope, reached the usual place of execution, 
and after suffering him to say a short prayer, hung 
him upon a projecting pole ; which proved an almost 
literal accomplishment of the visionary prediction of 
the mother, who did not long survive the death of 
her son. 

The confusion in the established national church, 
occasioned by the Queen's proclamation being read 
by some, and burnt by others, is well known. — From 
Horace Welby, 

XVI. 

Vision of Theodosius the Roman Emperor, 

The following is well attested by Theodoret and 
Livy : — 

In the Western Empire lived one Eugenius, an as- 
piring man, who from keeping a grammar school had 
risen to the office of Lord High Treasurer. Eugenius 
being elated with the extraordinary reputation of his 
eloquence and merit, entered into a plot with one 
Abrogastes, a Frenchman by birth, to possess himself 
of the emperorship, and, by his assurances and great 
promises, prevailed upon the eunuchs of the emperor's 
bed-chamber to strangle their master Valentinian 
while he was sleeping. Having perpetrated this 
horrible murder, he next consulted the diviners and 
and astrologers, who gave him every assurance that he 



40 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 

should obtain a complete victory, gain the empire^ 
and extirpate the Christian religion. 

Upon this, he soon assembled forces, and made 
himself master of the Julian Alps, where he lay 
securely encamped amongst the mountains. This 
news surprised and perplexed Theodosius ; who, after 
conferring the imperial title on his son Honorius, 
mustered a considerable number of troops, and arriv- 
ing in Gaul, found Eugenius ready to oppose himi with 
a very superior army. The emperor's officers, at the 
same time, advised him to avoid the battle till he 
might bring an army into the field more numerous 
than that of the usurper. 

About sunrise he fell asleep upon the ground and 
dreamed he saw two men clothed in white garments, 
and riding on white horses, who bade him lay aside all 
solicitude, and draw up his army in order of battle 
very early that morning and attack the enemy. They 
told him they were John the Evangelist and Philip 
the Apostle ; and they were sent to fight for him at 
the head of his troops. The emperor waked and re- 
newed his devotions, and addressed himself to heaven 
with greater fervency than before this vision. His men 
marched down with great alacrity and courage from 
the mountains ; and the two armies came to a battle 
at a river called Frigidas, about thirty-six miles from 
Aquileia. Romans now engaged Romans, the ac- 
tion was very hot and obstinate and many fell on 
both sides ; but the Eugenians pressed hard upon 
the barbarians, who had flocked from Thrace and 
offered themselves in great numbers in this expedition. 

At length the emperor, seeing all hope cut off, 
threw himself prostrate on the ground, and recom- 
mended his cause to God. The officers of the parties 
that lined the mountains now sent him assurances, 
that they would come over to him if he would promise 
that they should hold the same posts under him that 



VISION OF THEODOSIUS THE ROMAN EMPEROR. 4 1 

they held under Eugenius ; and this he had no sooner 
done under his own hand, than they came over to 
him. Bacurius also, one of the emperor's generals, 
inspired with sudden resolution, put himself in front 
of the retreating troops, broke the enemy's ranks 
and routed them ; and there arose on a sudden a 
violent storm of wind, so violent that it not only 
carried the weapons of the emperor's army w^ith re- 
doubled force upon the enemy, and returned those of 
the rebels upon themselves, but even forced their 
shields out of their hands and whirled them back 
again, and raised such violent clouds of dust as 
almost put out their eyes ; in a word, it entirely dis- 
armed them and put them into confusion, so that the 
greater part of them were either killed upon the spot 
or overtaken in the rout and made prisoners ; as many 
as threw down their arms and implored pardon ob- 
tained it. 

Thus the usurper lost the day, and those from 
whose hands he expected the person of his sovereign 
were sent by his master to fetch him down from his 
hill. As soon as he saw them climbing it, and ap- 
proaching towards him, he asked them whether they 
had brought Theodosius along with them. Their 
answer was, they had come by the appointment of 
God to carry him to Theodosius ; and immediately 
they pulled him from his seat and carried him to the 
emperor, who severely reproached and expostulated 
with him for the murder of Valentinian, and for all 
his treason and rebellion. In conclusion, the soldiers 
struck off his head as he was begging quarter at the 
emperor's feet, where he hoped to save his life. The 
day of this overthrow and execution was the 6th of 
September, in Arcadius's third and Honorius's second 
consulate. The traitorous General Arbogastes, the 
principal agent in this mischief, after he had preserved 
himself by flight for three days, finding it impossible 



42 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

to escape the stroke of justice, put an end to his life 
by his own sword. 



XVIL 

Major Sydenham and Captain William Dyke. 

Major George Sydenham resided at Dulverton, in 
the county of Somerset, and Captain William Dyke 
at Skilgate, in the same county. Shortly after the 
death of the former, a doctor was desired to attend a 
sick child at the major's house. On his way thither 
he called on the captain, who willingly accompanied 
him to the place. Soon after their arrival they were 
conducted to the room they were both to occupy. 
After they had lain a while the captain knocked and 
bade the servant bring him two large candles lighted. 
The doctor inquired what he meant by this } The 
captain replied, " You know what disputes the major 
and I used to have touching the being of a God and 
the immortality of the soul. On these points we could 
never agree. It was finally agreed between us that 
he who died first should, the third night after his 
funeral, between the hours of twelve and one, come to 
the summer-house in the garden, and there give a full 
account to the survivor touching these matters. This," 
said the captain, " is the night, and I am come to 
fulfil my promise/' The doctor dissuaded him, re- 
minding him of the danger of following such strange 
counsels. The captain replied that he had solemnly 
engaged, and nothing should discourage him ; he was 
resolved to watch, that he might be sure to be present 
at the hour appointed. As soon as he perceived that 
it was half-past eleven, he arose, and taking a candle 
in each hand, went out by a back door and walked to 
the garden-house, where he continued two hours and 



MAJOR SYDENHAM AND CAPT. WILLIAM DYKE, 43 

a half, and, at his return, declared that he had neither 
seen nor heard anything more than usual. 

About six weeks afterwards, the captain rode to 
Eton, accompanied by the doctor. They lodged there 
at an inn, staying two or three nights, but not sleeping 
together as at Dulverton. The morning before their 
return the captain stayed in his chamber longer than 
usual before he called the doctor. At length he en- 
tered the doctor's chamber, but with his hair erect, 
his eyes staring, and his whole body shaking and 
trembling. The doctor, filled with surprise, inquired, 
" What is the matter, captain } " The captain replied, 
" I have seen the major." The doctor smiled, when 
the captain immediately added, " If ever I saw him in 
my life I saw him just now/' He then related what 
had passed in these words : '' This morning, soon after 
it was light, some one came to my bedside, and sud- 
denly drawing back the curtains, called, ' Cap. cap.' 
(this being the term of familiarity by which the major 
used to call the captain), to whom I replied, ' What, 
major } ' He answered, ' I could not come at the 
time appointed, but I am now come to tell you that 
there is a God, and a very just and terrible one; and 
if you do not turn over a new leaf you will find it so.' 
On the table there lay a sword which the major had 
formerly given me. After the apparition had paced 
about the chamber he took up the sword, drew it out, 
and finding it not so clean and bright as usual, ' Cap. 
cap.,' said he, ' this sword was not used to be kept 
after this manner when it was mine.' After these 
words he suddenly disappeared." 

The captain was not only thoroughly persuaded of 
the truth of this narrative, but w^as from that time ob- 
served to be much affected by it during the remaining 
two years of his life. — From Aubreys Miscellanies. 



44 SIGNS BEFORE BE A TH 



XVIII 

Letter written by James Earl of Marlborough, a short 
time before his Death, in the Battle at Sea on the 
Coast of Holland, 1665, directed to the Right Hon. 
Sir Htigh Portland, Comptroller to His Majesty's 
Household, 

Sir, — I believe the goodness of your nature, and 
the friendship you have always borne me, will receive 
with kindness the last office of your friend. I am in 
health enough of body, and (through the mercy of God) 
well disposed in mind. This I premise, that you may 
be satisfied that what I write proceeds not from fantastic 
terror of mind, but from a sober resolution of what 
concerns myself, and earnest desire to do you more 
good after my death, than my example (God of his 
mercy pardon the badness of it) in my lifetime may 
do you harm. I will not speak out of the vanity of 
this world ; your own age and experience will save 
that labour: but there is a certain thing that goeth up 
and down the world, called religion, dressed and pre- 
tended fantastically, and to purposes bad enough, 
which yet, by such evil dealing, looseth not its being : 
the great good God hath not left it without a witness, 
more or less, sooner or later, in every man's bosom, to 
direct us in the pursuit of it ; and for the avoiding of 
those inextricoble disquisitions and entanglements our 
own frail reason would perplex us withal, God, in his 
infinite mercy hath given us his holy word ; in which 
as there are many things hard to be understood, so 
there is enough plain and easy, to quiet our minds, 
and direct us concerning our future being. I confess 
to God and you^ I have been a great neglecter, and, I 
fear, great despiser of it : God of his infinite mercy 
pardon me the dreadful fault. But when I retired 
myself from the noise and deceitful vanity of the 



SIR JOHN SHERBROKE AND GEN WYNYARD. 45 

world, I found no true comfort in any other resolution 
than what I had from thence : I commend from the 
bottom of my heart the same to your (I hope) happy 
use. Dear Sir Hugh, let us be more generous than 
to believe we die as the beasts that perish ; but with 
a Christian, manly, brave resolution, look to what is 
eternal. I will not trouble you farther. The only 
great God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, direct you 
to an happy end of your life, and send us a joyful 
resurrection. 

So prays your true friend, 

Marlborough. 

Old James, near the Coast of Holland, 
April 24, 1665. 

I beseech you commend my love to all my acquain- 
tance ; particularly, I pray you that my cousin Glas- 
cock may have a sight of this letter^ and as many 
friends besides as you will, or any else that desire it. 
I pray grant this my request. 

This letter, weighty in matter, and serious in its 
phraseology, is most remarkable for the time in which 
it was written, namely, but a few days before the Earl 
died. 



XIX. 

Sir John Sherbroke and General Wynyard, 

These gentlemen were, as young men, officers in the 
same regiment, which was employed on foreign service. 
They were connected by similarity of tastes and studies, 
and spent together in literary occupation much of their 
vacant time. They were one afternoon sitting in Wyn- 
yard's apartments. It w^as about four o'clock ; they 
had dined, but neither of them had taken wine, and 
they had retired early from the mess to continue 



46 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 

together the occupations of the morning. The apart- 
ment in which they were had two doors in it, the one 
opening into a passage, and the other leading into 
Wynyard's bed-room. There was no way of entering 
the sitting-room but from the passage, and no egress 
from the bed-room but through the sitting-room ; so 
that any person passing into the bed-room must have 
remained there, unless he returned by the way he 
entered. This point is of consequence to the story. 

As these two young officers were pursuing their 
studies, Sherbroke, whose eye happened accidentally 
to glance from the volume before him towards the door 
that opened to the passage, observed a tall youth, 
of about twenty years of age, whose appearance was 
that of extreme emaciation, standing beside it. Struck 
with the presence of a perfect stranger, he immediately 
turned to his friend, who was sitting near him, and 
directed his attention to the guest who had thus 
strangely broken in upon their studies. As soon as 
Wynyard's eyes were turned towards the mysterious 
visitor, his countenance became suddenly agitated. 
" I have heard,'' says Sir John Sherbroke, " of a man 
being as pale as death, but I never saw a living face 
assume the appearance of a corpse, except Wynyard's 
at that moment." 

As they looked silently at the form before them, — 
for Wynyard, who seemed to apprehend the import 
of the appearance, was deprived of the faculty of 
speech, and Sherbroke, perceiving the agitation of his 
friend, felt no inclination to address it,— as they looked 
silently upon the figure, it proceeded slowly into the 
adjoining apartment, and, in the act of passing them, 
cast its eyes with an expression of somewhat melan- 
choly affection on young Wynyard. The oppression 
of this extraordinary presence was no sooner removed, 
than Wynyard, seizing his friend by the arm and draw- 
ing a deep breath, as if recovering from the suffoca- 



SIR JOHN SHERBROKE AND GEN. WYNYARD. 4/ 

tion of intense astonishment and emotion, muttered in 
a low and almost inaudible tone of voice, " Great God ! 
my brother ! '' " Your brother ! " repeated Sherbroke, 
" What can you mean, Wynyard ? there must be some 
deception — follow me ;" and, immediately taking his 
friend by the arm, he preceded him into the bed-room, 
which, as before stated, was connected with the sitting- 
room, and into which the strange visitor had evidently 
entered. Imagine the astonishment of the young 
officers, when, entering the bed-room, they found no 
one in it. Wynyard's mind had received an impression 
that the figure which he had seen was the spirit of his 
brother. Sherbroke still persevered in strenuously 
believing that some delusion had been practised. 

They took note of the day and hour in which the 
event had happened ; but they resolved not to men- 
tion the occurrence in the regiment, and gradually 
they persuaded each other that they had been imposed 
upon by some artifice of their fellow-officers, though 
they could neither account for the reason, nor suspect 
the author, nor conceive the means of its execution. 
They were content to imagine any thing possible, 
rather than admit the possibility of a supernatural 
appearance. But Wynyard could not help expressing 
his solicitude with respect to the safety of the brother 
whose apparition he had either seen, or imagined him- 
self to have seen ; and the anxiety which he exhibited 
for letters from England, and his frequent mention of 
his fears for his brother's health, at length awakened 
the curiosity of his comrades, and eventually betrayed 
him into a declaration of the circumstances which he 
had, in vain, determined to conceal. The story of the 
silent and unbidden visitor was no sooner bruited 
abroad than the destiny of Wynyard's brother became 
an object of universal and painful interest to the 
officers of the regiment ; there were few who did not 
inquire for Wynyard's letters before they made any 



48 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

demand for their own. At length the long-wished for 
vessel arrived ; all the officers had letters except 
Wynyard. Still the secret was unexplained. They 
examined the several newspapers, but they contained 
no mention of any death , or of any other circum- 
stance connected with his family that could account 
for the preternatural event. There was a solitary 
letter for Sherbroke still unopened. The officers had 
received their letters in the mess-room at the hour of 
supper. After Sherbroke had broken the seal of his 
last packet, and cast a glance on its contents, he 
beckoned his friend away from the company and 
departed from the room. All were silent. The feel- 
ing of interest was now at its height ; the impatience 
for the return of Sherbroke was inexpressible. They 
doubted not but that the letter contained the long- 
expected intelligence. After the interval of an hour 
Sherbroke joined them. No one dared be guilty of 
so great a rudeness as to enquire the nature of his 
correspondence ; but they waited in mute attention, 
expecting that he wouldhimself touch upon the subject. 
His mind was manifestly full of thoughts that pained, 
bewildered, and oppressed him. He drew near to the 
fire-place, and leaning his head on the mantel-piece, 
after a pause of some moments said in a low voice 
to the person who was nearest to him, " Wynyard's 
brother is no more ! " The first line of Sherbroke's 
letter was, " Dear John, break to your friend Wynyard 
the death of his favourite brother/' He had died on 
the day, and at the very hour on which the friends 
had seen the vision pass so mysteriously through the 
apartment. 

So strong was Sherbroke's conviction against the 
possibility of any preternatural intercourse with the 
souls of the dead, that he still entertained a doubt of 
the report of his senses, although their testimony was 
supported by the coincidence o^ vision and event. 



SIR JOHN SHERBROKE AND GEN. WYNYARD. 49 

Some years later, on his return to England, he was 
walking with two gentlemen in Piccadilly, when, on 
the opposite side of the way, he saw a person bearing 
the most striking resemblance to the figure which had 
been disclosed to Wynyard and himself. His com- 
panions w^ere acquainted with the story ; and he in- 
stantly directed their attention to the gentleman 
opposite, as the individual who had contrived to enter 
and depart from Wynyard's apartment without their 
being conscious of the means. Full of this impression, 
he immediately went over, at once addressed the 
gentleman, and now fully expected to elucidate the 
mystery. He apologized for the interruption, but ex- 
cused it by relating the occurrence which had induced 
him to the commission of this solecism in manners. 
The gentlemen received him as a friend. He had 
never been out of the country ; but he w^as the twin 
brother of the youth whose spirit had been seen. 

This story is related with several variations. It is 
sometimes told as having happened at Gibraltar, at 
others in England, at others in America. There are 
also differences with respect to the conclusion. Some 
say that the gentleman whom Sir John Sherbroke 
afterwards met in London, and addressed as the per- 
son whom he had previously seen in so mysterious a 
manner, was not another brother of General Wynyard, 
but a gentleman who bore a strong resemblance to 
the family. But, however, the leading facts in every 
account are the same. Sir John Sherbroke and 
General Wynyard, two gentlemen of veracity were 
together present at the spiritual appearance of the 
brother of General Wynyard ; the appearance took 
place at the moment of dissolution ; and the coun- 
tenance and form of the ghost's figure were so dis- 
tinctly impressed upon the memory of Sir John 
Sherbroke — to whom the living man had been un- 
known — that on accidentally meeting with his likeness 

4 



50 SIGNS BEFORE DEATH. 

he perceived and acknowledged the resemblance.- 
From H, Welby. 



XX. 

Thomas Goddard of Marlborough, Wilts. 

The following interesting deposition of Thomas God- 
dard of Marlborough, Wilts, weaver, made the 23rd Nov., 
1674 — is taken from Glanvil's " Saducissimus Trium- 
phatus." On Monday the 9th inst, as he was going 
to Ogborn, at a stile on the highway near Mr. God- 
dard's ground, about nine in the morning, he met the 
apparition of his father-in-law, one Edward Avon, of 
this town, glover, who died in May last, having on, to 
his appearance, the same clothes, hat, stockings, and 
shoeshe usually wore when hewasliving. He wasstand- 
ing by and leaning over the stile. When he came near, 
the apparition spoke to him, with an audible voice, 
these words, '' Are you afraid ? " To which he an- 
swered, " I am thinking on one who is dead and buried, 
whom you are like." To which the apparition replied 
with the like voice, " I am he that you are thinking 
on; I am Edward Avon, your father-in-law; come 
near to me, I will do you no harm/' To which God- 
dard answered, " I trust in him who hath bought my 
soul with his precious blood, you shall do me no 
harm." Then the apparition said, "How stand cases 
at home .^ " Goddard asked what cases 1 Then it 
asked, " How are William and Mary } "—meaning, as 
he conceived, his son William Avon, a shoemaker 
here, and Mary his daughter, Goddard's wife. Then 
it said, " What ! Taylor is dead," meaning one Taylor 
of London, who married his daughter Sarah, w^hich 
Taylor died the Michaelmas before. Then the ap- 
parition held out its hand, and in it, as Goddard con- 



THOMAS GODDARD OF MARLBOROUGH, WILTS. 5^ 

ceived, twenty or thirty shillings in silver, and then 
spake with a loud voice, '' Take this money and send 
it to Sarah , for I shut up my bowels of compassion 
towards her in the time of my life, and now here is 
something for her.'' And then said, "' Mary is troubled 
for me ; but tell her God hath showed mercy to 
me contrary to my deserts/' But Goddard an- 
swered, '' In the name of Jesus Christ I refuse all 
such money." Then the apparition said, '' I perceive 
you are afraid, I will meet you some other time." And 
immediately it went up the lane, and he went over 
the stile, but saw it no more that day. 

The next night, about seven o'clock, it came and 
opened his shop-window and stood m the same clothes, 
looked him in the face, but said nothing. And the 
next night after, it appeared to him again in the same 
shape, but he being in fear, ran into his house, and 
saw it no more then. 

On Thursday the 1 2th inst, as he came from 
Chilton, riding down the hill between the manor- 
house and Axford-farm-field, he saw something like a 
hare cross his way, at w^hich his horse startled, and 
threw him in the dirt. As soon as he could recover 
his feet, the same apparition met him again in the same 
habit as before, and standing about eight feet directly 
before him in the way spoke again to him with a 
loud voice, '' Source (a word he commonly used Avhen 
living) you have stayed long ; " and then went on, 
" Thomas, bid William Avon take the sword that he 
had of me, which is now in his house, and carry it to 
the wood as we go to Alton, to the upper end of the 
wood by the wayside ; for with that sword I did wrong 
above thirty years ago, and he never prospered since 
he had that sword ; and bid William Avon give his 
sister Sarah twenty shillings of the money which he 
had of me. And do you talk with Edward Lawrence, 
for I borrowed twenty shillings of him several years 



5 2 SIGNS BEFORE BE A TH. 

ago, and did say I had paid him, but I did not pay it 
him ; and I would desire you to pay him twenty 
shillings out of the money which you had from. James 
Elliot at two payments." This money Goddard said 
was five pounds, which James Elliot, a baker, owed 
the said Avon on bond, and which he, Goddard, had 
received since Michaelmas, at two payments, viz., 35s. 
at one time, and £^ 5s. at another payment. It far- 
ther said to him, '' Tell Margaret (meaning his own 
wife) that I would desire her to deliver up the little 
which I gave to Sarah Tytler, to the child, or to some 
one in trust for her. But if she will not, speak to 
Edward Lawrence to persuade her. And if she will 
not then, tell her I will see her very suddenly. And 
see that this be done within a twelvemonth and a 
day after my decease, and peace be with j^ou." It 
then went away over the rails into the wood, and he 
saw it no more at that time. He paid the twenty 
shillings to Edward Lawrence, who remembered having 
lent the said Avon twenty shillings about twenty years 
ago, which none knew but himself and wife, and Avon 
and his wife, and which had not been paid. 

He, with his brother-in-law, William Avon, went 
with the sword about nine o'clock in the morning, 
and laid it down in the copse near the place the ap- 
parition had appointed, and then coming away thence 
Goddard looking back saw the same apparition again 
in the same habit as before. Whereupon he called to 
his brother-in-law and said, ^' Here is the apparition 
of our father." Then Goddard fell on his knees, and 
said, ''Lord, open his eyes that he may see it." But 
he replied, " Lord grant I may not see it, if it be 
thy blessed will," and then the apparition, Goddard 
thought, beckoned with his hand to him to come to it. 
Goddard said, " In the name of the Father, Son, and 
Holy Ghost, what would you have me do .^ " The 
apparition replied, " Thomas, take up the sword and 



THOMAS GODDARD OF MARLBOROUGH, WILTS. 53 

follow me." He said, " should both of us come, or but 
one of us ? " It answered, '' Thomas, do you take up 
the sword." And so he took up the sword and followed 
the apparition about ten lugs (poles) farther into the 
copse, and then turning back, he stood still about a 
lug and a-half from it, his brother-in-law staying be- 
hind at the place where the}^ first laid down the sword. 
Then Goddard, laying down the sword upon the 
ground, saw something stand by the apparition like a 
mastiff dog, of a brown colour. Then the apparition, 
coming towards Goddard, he stepped back about two 
steps, and the apparition said to him, "I have some- 
thing to say to you, but will not touch you ; and then 
it took up the sword, and went back to the place 
where it stood before, mastiff dog still with it, and 
pointed the tip of the sword in the ground, and said, 
" In this place lies buried the body of him which I 
murdered in the year 1635, which is now rotten and 
turned to dust." Whereupon Goddard said, "' I adjure 
you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
wherefore did you commit this murder 1 " and it 
answered, '' I took money from the man, and he con- 
tended with me, and so I murdered him." Goddard 
asked who was confederate in the said murder } and 
it said, '' None but myself" Then Goddard enquired, 
" What would you have me do in this thing t " And 
the apparition said, *' This is that the w^orld may know 
that I murdered a man, and buried him in this place, 
in the year 1635." 

The apparition then laid down the sword on the 
bare ground, whereon nothing grew, but seemed to 
Goddard to be as a grave sunk in. It rushed further 
into the copse, and he saw it no more. Whereupon 
Goddard, and his brother-in-law Avon, leaving the 
sword there and coming away together, Avon told 
Goddard he heard the voice, and understood what was 
said, and also heard other words distinct from his, but 



54 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 

could not understand any of it, nor see any appari- 
tion at all. The deposition was signed 

In the presence of Christ. Lypyatt, Mayor; Rolf 
Bayly, T own- Clerk ; Joshua Sacheveral, Rector 
of St Peter Sy in Marlborough. 

Examined by me. 

Will. Bayly. 



XXI. 

A M other* s appearance to her Son while at Sea, 

A woman, who lived on Rhode Island, in America, 
whilst on her death bed, and just before she expired, 
expressed a great desire to see her only son, who was 
then a mariner, navigating in the West India seas, and 
to deliver him a message. She informed the persons 
near her what she wanted to say to her son and died 
immediately. About that instant she appeared to 
him, as he was standing at the helm, it being a bright 
moonlight night. She first appeared on the shrouds, 
and delivered her message ; and afterwards walked 
over some casks that lay on the deck, then descended 
the side regularly to the water, where she seemed to 
float for a while, and at last sunk and wholly disap- 
peared. The young man immediately recorded the 
time and day, and the substance of her message, and 
found on his arrival at Rhode Island, that she died at 
the very time when she was seen by him ; and the 
words she spoke to him corresponded exactly with 
those she delivered to the persons around her. 



RELATION OF "JAMES SHEREING. 5 5 



XXII. 

Relation of James S herring, taken concering the matter 
at old Cast's Honse, of Little Burton, June 23, 1677. 

On June 23, 1677, ^^e following circumstances oc- 
cured at the house of a man named Gast, at Little 
Burton, in Somersetshire. 

The first night that the narrator was there with two 
others, Hugh Mellmore and Edward Smith, they 
heard as it were someone washing in water over their 
heads. Then taking a candle and going up the stairs, 
there was a wet cloth thrown at them, but it fell on 
the stairs. They going up farther there was another 
thrown as before. And when they were come up into 
the chamber there stood a bowl of water, some of it 
sprinkled over, and the water looked white, as if 
there had been soap used in it. The bowl just before 
was in the kitchen, and could not have been carried 
up but through the room where they were. The next 
thing that they heard the same night was a terrible 
noise also upstairs as if it had been a clap of thunder, 
then they heard great scratching about the bedstead, 
and after that great knocking with a hammer against 
the bed's-head, so that the two maids that were in 
bed cried out for help. Then they ran up stairs, and 
there lay the hammer on the bed, and on the bed's- 
head there were near a thousand prints of the hammer, 
which the violent strokes had made. The maids said 
that they were scratched and pinched by a hand with 
very long nails that was put into the bed. They said 
the hammer was locked up fast in the cupboard when 
they went to bed. 

The second night one of the company sat down in 
the chimney to fill a pipe of tobacco ; he made use 
of the firetongs to take up a coal to light his pipe, and 
by and by the tongs were drawn up the stairs, and 



2 6 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

after they were in the chamber the tongs were made 
to snap as if in some one's hands, and were then 
thrown upon the bed. Although the tongs were so 
near him downstairs he never perceived them to go 
away. The same night one of the maids left her 
shoes by the fire, and they were carried up into the 
chamber and the old man's brought down and set in 
their place. The same night there was a knife carried 
up into the chamber, the bed's head was scratched and 
scraped all the night, and when they went up into the 
chamber, the knife was found in the loft. As they 
were going up the stairs there were many things 
thrown at them which were just before in the low 
room, and when they went down the stairs the old 
man's breeches were thrown down after them. 

The third night, as soon as the people were gone 
to bed, the servants' clothes were taken and thrown at 
the candle and put it out, and immediately after they 
cried out with a very hideous cry that *They should 
be all choked if they were not presently helped.' 
When assistance came, it was found that a quantity of 
the feathers had been plucked out of the bolster that 
lay under their heads, and some thrust into their 
mouths, until they were almost choked. The feathers 
were theh thrown about the bed and room. They 
were plucked out of a hole no bigger than the top 
of one's little finger. Some time after they were 
vexed with a very hideous knocking at their heads as 
they lay on the bed. Then James Sherring and 
Thomas Hillary, who had gone up, took the candle 
and stood at the bed's feet, and the knocking con- 
tinued. Then they saw a hand with an arm-wrist 
hold the hammer which kept on knocking against the 
bedstead. Then James Sherring going towards the 
bed's-head, the hand and hammer fell down behind the 
bolster, and could not be found ; although they turned 
up the bed-clothes and searched thoroughly. But as 



RE LA TION OF JAMES SH ERRING, 57 

soon as they went down stairs the hammer was thrown 

out into the middle of the chamber. 

The fourth and fifth nights there was but little done 

more than knocking and scratching. 

The sixth and seventh nights all was quiet as at 

other houses ; and upon the eighth day Sherring and 

Hillary left the house. 

The circumstances that follow are what James 
Sherring heard the people of the house report. 

There was a saddle hanging up in the house be- 
longing to their Uncle Warren of Leigh (which it 
seems they had detained wrongfully), that w^ould 
come off the nail and hop about from one place to 
another, and from one table to another. Jane Gast 
and her kinswoman took this saddle and carried it 
to Leigh, and as they were going along the broad 
commgn there were sticks and stones throwm at 
them, which made them very much afraid, and walking 
close together for fear, the whittles which were on 
their shoulders became knit. They carried the saddle 
to the house w^hich was old Warren's, and left it, and 
returned home very quiet. But at night, the saddle 
was brought back from Leigh (which is a mile and a 
half at least from old Gast's house), and thrown upon 
the bed w^here the maids lay. After that, the saddle 
was very troublesome to them, until they broke it in 
small pieces and threw it out into the highway. 

There w^as a coat belonging the owner of the saddle, 
which hung on the door in the hall, and it came off 
from the place and flew into the fire and lay some 
considerable time before they could get it out. For 
it was as much as three of them could do to pluck it 
out of the fire, because of the ponderous weight that 
seemed to lay on it. Nevertheless there was no mark 
of the fire upon it. 

One night there were two of this old Gast's grand- 
daughters in bed together, one of them, about tw^elve 



S 8 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 

or thirteen years of age, and the other about sixteen 
or seventeen. They said they felt a hand in bed with 
them, which they bound up in the sheet, and took 
bedstaves and beat it until it was as soft as wool, then 
they took a stone which lay in the chamber, about a 
quarter of an hundred weight, and put on it, and were 
quiet all the night. In the morning, they found it as 
they left it. Then the eldest of the maids swore that 
she would burn the Devil, and fetched a furze faggot 
to burn it, but when she came again, the stone was 
thrown away, and the cloth was found wet. 

The following is the relation of Jane Winsor, of 
Long Burton, she being there three nights, taken the 
3rd day of July, 1677 : — 

She heard or saw nothing as long as the candle 
burned, but as soon as it was out something seemed 
to fall down by the bedside, and by and by it began 
to hit about the bed's-head with a staff, and struck 
Jane Winsor on the head. She put forth her hand 
and caught it, but was not able to hold it fast. She 
got out of the bed to light a candle, and there was a 
great stone thrown after her, but it missed her. When 
the candle was lighted, they arose and went down to 
the fire. One of them went up to fetch the bed-clothes 
to make a bed by the fire, and there lay a heap of 
stones on the bed whereon they lay just before. As 
soon as the bed was made, and they had laid down 
to take their rest, there was a loud scratching on the 
form that stood by them. Then something came and 
heaved up the bolster under their heads, and endea- 
voured to throw them out of bed. At last it got hold 
of one end of the pillow, and set it on end, and there 
it stood for some considerable time, at last falling 
down in its place ; after this they were not disturbed. 
— From Horace Welby. 



DA VID HUNTER'S VISION. 59 

XXIII. 

David Htmter's Vision. 

The following circumstantial narrative was given to 
the Bishop of Down and Dromore, in whose service 
Hunter lived at Neatherd, at Portmore, in Ireland, 
1663. The facts were narrated by him, day by day 
as they occurred, to the Bishop, and to Lady Conway, 
then on a visit at Portmore. 

One evening as David Hunter was carrying a log 
of wood into the dairy, there appeared to him an old 
woman ; the fright made him throw away his log of 
wood and run into the house. The next night she 
appeared again to him ; and he could not choose but 
follow her all nighty and thus almost every night for 
three quarters of a year. He was drawn after her 
through the woods at a good rate, until the poor 
fellow came to look quite bewitched and weary. When 
in bed with his wife, if she appeared, he was compelled 
to rise and go. And when his wife found she could not 
hold him back, she went too, and walked after him till 
day, though she saw nothing. His little dog became so 
w^ell acquainted with the apparition, that he would 
follow her as well as his master. 

One day as David was going over a hedge into the 
highway, she came just against him, and he cried out, 
'* Lord bless me, would I was dead ; shall I never be 
delivered from this misery } " " And the Lord bless 
me too," replied the apparition, '' It was very happy 
you spoke first, for till then I had no power to speak, 
though I have followed you so long.'' " My name," 

said she, is ^' Margaret , I lived here before the 

war, and had one son by my husband ; when he died 
I married a soldier, by whom I had several children, 
which that former son maintained, else we must all 
have starved. He lives beyond the Ban- water ; pray 



6o SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

go to him, and bid him dig under such a hearth, and 
there he shall find twenty-eight shillings. Let him 
pay what I owe in such a place, and place the rest to 
the charge unpaid at my funeral ; and go to my son 
that lives here, which I had by my latter husband, and 
tell him, that he lives a wicked and a dissolute life, 
and is very unnatural and ungrateful to his brother 
that maintained him, and if he does not mend his life, 
God will destroy him." 

David Hunter told her he never knew her. " No," 
said she, '' I died seven years before you came into 
the countr}^ ; " still she charged him to deliver her mes- 
sage and she would never hurt him. But he deferred 
doing as the apparition bid him, and she appeared 
the night after as he lay in bed, and struck him on the 
shoulder very hard ; at which he cried out, and asked 
her if she did not promise she would not hurt him } 
She said, that was if he obeyed her ; if not, she would 
kill him. He told her he could not now, as the waters 
were out. She said, she was content that he should 
stay till they were abated ; but charged him afterwards 
not to fail her. When the waters were abated he de- 
livered her message, and afterwards she appeared and 
gave him thanks. " For now," said she, " I shall be at 
rest, therefore pray lift me up from the ground, and I 
will trouble you no more." David Hunter now lifted 
her up from the ground, and he said she felt just like 
a bag of feathers in his arms ; she then disappeared, 
and he saw no more of her from that time— /^r^;/? 
Horace Welby. 



XXIV, 

Strange Presages at Woodstock, 

In 1649, during the visit of the Commissioners of 
Woods and Forests to survey the manor-house, park, 



STRANGE PRESAGES A T WOODSTOCK, 1 

deer, woods, and other demesnes belonging to the 
Manor of Woodstock, in Oxfordshire, the following 
circumstances occurred. They are related with much 
accuracy and precision as to time and place in the 
Natural History of Oxfordshire, a work of great 
reputation. 

The Commissioners, October 13, 1646, with their 
servants, took up their lodging in the king's own 
rooms, the bed-chamber,. and withdrawing room. On 
the 1 6th October there came, as they thought, some- 
thing into the bed-chamber where two of the Com- 
missioners and their servants lay, in the shape of a 
dog, which, going under their beds, seemed to gnaw 
their bedcords, but on the morrow, finding them 
whole, and a quarter of beef which lay on the ground 
untouched, they were much surprised. 

October 17. — Something to their thinking, removed 
a quantity of wood out of the dining-room into the 
presence chamber, and hurled the chair and stools up 
and down that room. From thence it came into the 
two chambers where the Commissioners and their 
servants lay, and hoisted up their bed's-feet so much 
higher than their heads, that they thought they would 
have been thrown out ; it then let them fall down 
with such a force that their bodies rebounded from 
the bed, after this the bedstead shook violently. 

October 18. — Something came into the bed-cham- 
ber and walked up and down, fetched the warming- 
pan out of the withdrawing-room, and made so much 
noise that they thought five bells could not have 
made more. 

October 19. — Trenchers were thrown up and down 
the dining-room, and at the people therein, whereof 
one of them being shaken by the shoulder, and 
awakened, put forth his head to see what was the 
matter, and had trenchers thrown at it. 

October 20. — The curtains of the bed in the with- 



62 SIGNS BEFORE BE A TH, 

drawing-room, were drawn to and fro, and much 
shaken, and eight great pewter dishes and a number 
of trenches thrown about the bed-chamber again. This 
night they also thought whole armfuls of wood had 
been thrown down in their chambers, but in the 
morning they found nothing. 

October 21. — The keeper of their ordinary and his 
dog lay in one of the rooms with them, this night they 
were not disturbed at all. But October 22, though 
the dog kenneled there again, to which they had 
ascribed their former night's rest, both they and it 
were greatly disturbed, the dog barking with a whining 
fearful yelp. October 23. — They had all their clothes 
plucked off them in the drawing-room, and bricks fell 
out of the chimney into the room. October 24. — 
They thought, in the dining-room, that all the wood 
of the King's oak had been brought thither and 
thrown down close by their bedside ; the noise of 
which being heard by those in the drawing-room, one 
of them rose to see what was the cause, fearing indeed 
that his fellow Commissioners had been killed, but 
found no such matter ; whereupon returning to his 
bed again, he found two dozen of trenchers thrown 
into it, and carefully covered with the bed-clothes. 

October 25. — The curtains of the bed in the drawing- 
room were pulled to and fro, and the bedstead shaken 
as before, and, in the bed-chamber, glass flew about 
so thick (and yet not a pane of the chamber win- 
dows was broken) that it might have rained glass. 
Whereupon they lighted candles, but to their grief 
they found nothing but the pieces. October 29.-— 
Something walked in the drawing-room about an 
hour, and going to the window opened and shut it ; 
then going into the bed-chamber, it threw great stones 
for about half-an-hour, some of which lighted on the 
high bed, others on the truckle bed, to the number of 
70 or 80 in all. This night there was also a very great 



STRANGE PRESAGES A T WOODSTOCK. 63 

noise, as if several pieces of ordnance had been shot 
off together. During these noises, which were heard 
in the two rooms at once, both Commissioners and 
servants were struck with so great horror that they 
cried out to one another for help ; and one of them 
snatched up a sword and nearly killed one of his 
brethren standing in his shirt, whom he took for the 
spirit that did the mischief At length they got all 
together, but the noise continued so great and so ter- 
rible, and shook the walls so much, that they thought 
the whole manor would have fallen on their heads. 
At its departure it took all the glass and fled away. 

November 1. — Something, as they thought, w^alked 
up and down the drawing-room, and then made a 
noise in the dining-room. The stones that were left 
before, and laid up in the withdrawing-room, were all 
fetched away this night, and a great deal of glass (not 
like the former) thrown about again. November 2. — 
Something came into the drawing-room, treading, as 
they thought, much like a bear, which at first only 
walked about a quarter of an hour ; at length it made 
a noise about the table, and threw the warming pan 
so violently, that it quite spoiled it. It also threw 
glass and great stones about again, and the bones of 
horses ; and all so violently, that the bedstead and 
walls were bruised by them. This night they set 
candles all about the rooms, and made fires up to the 
mantle-pieces of the chimneys, but all were put out, 
nobody knew how ; pieces of burnt wood being thrown 
up and down the rooms. The curtains were torn from 
their beds, and the bed-p05ts pulled away, so that 
the tester fell down upon them, and the feet of the 
bedstead were cloven in two. Upon the servants in 
the truckle bed that lay all this time quaking with 
fear, there came first a little water which made them 
begin to stir, but before they could get out, there 
came a whole bowl as it were of stinking ditch water 



64 SIG.VS BEFORE DEA TH. 

down upon them, so green that it stained their night 
dresses. 

The same night the windows were all broken, and 
there were most terrible noises in the three several 
places together, to the extraordinary surprise of all 
who lodged near ; nay, the very coney-ste'alers tliat 
were abroad that night, were so affrighted with the 
dismal thundering, that in haste they left their ferret 
in the coney-burroughs behind them, beyond Roso- 
mand's Well. Notwithstanding all- this, one of the 
witnesses had the boldness to ask in the name of God 
what it was 1 What it would have t and what they 
had done, that they should be disturbed in this 
manner 1 To this no answer was given, but the noise 
ceased for a while. At length it came again, and 
worse than ever. Whereupon one of them lighted a 
candle and set it between the two chambers in the 
door-way, on which another of them fixing his eyes, 
saw the similitude of a hoof striking the candle and 
candlestick into the middle of the bed-chamber, and 
making three scrapes on the snuff to put it out. Upon 
this the same person drew his sword, but he had 
scarce got it out, when there was another invisible 
hand had hold of it too, and tugged with him for it, 
and prevailing, struck him so violently with the pum- 
mel, that he was stunned with the blow. 

Then began great noises again, so great, that calling 
one another together, they went into the presence 
chamber, where they said prayers and sung psalms ; 
notwithstanding all this, the thundering noise still 
continued in other rooms. November 3. — After this 
they removed their lodgings over the gate, and next 
day they went to Ewelin but returning on Monday, 
the devil (for that was the name they gave their 
nightly guest) left them not unvisited, nor on the 
Tuesday following, which was the last day they so- 
journed at Woodstock. — From H, Welby. 



THE DUCHESS OF MAZARINE. ^S 

XXV. 

The Duchess of Mazarhie, and Madame de Beauclair, 

The Duchess of Mazarine was one of the most 
celebrated of the mistresses of the gay and licentious 
court of King Charles 11. Waller distinguishes her 
as one of the favourites of that monarch in the fol- 
lowing lines— 

** When through the world fair Mazarine had run, 
Bright as her fellow-traveller the sun, 
Hither at last the Roman eagle flies, 
As the last triumph of her conquering eyes." 

Madame de Beauclair was equally admired and 
loved by his brother and successor, James II. ; be- 
tween these two ladies there existed an intimate 
friendship. 

They were both Avomen of excellent ability, who 
had enjoyed all the luxuries of this world, and were 
arrived at an age when they might be supposed to 
despise all its follies. 

After the burning of Whitehall, these two ladies 
were allotted very handsome apartments in the Stable- 
yard, St James's, but the face of public affairs being 
then wholly changed, and a new set of courtiers as 
well as rules of etiquette having come into vogue, 
they were left almost entirely to themselves. 

About this time the doctrine of the immortality of 
the soul was warmly disputed in all circles, especially 
among those whose mere rank w life served as a speci- 
ous pretext for their interference in such matters. The 
doctrine was too much discussed, not to be frequently 
a subject of conversation with these ladies ; and the 
plausible arguments for and against used by persons of 
high reputation for their learning, had such an effect 
on both as to raise great doubts in their minds. In 
one of these serious consultations on this topic, it was 

5 



€>6 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

agreed between them, that whichever should be first 
called from this world, should return (if there was a 
possibility of doing so) and give the other an account 
in what manner she was disposed of. This promise, 
it seems, was often repeated, and the Duchess happen- 
ing to fall sick, and her life being despaired of by all 
about her, Madame de Beauclair reminded her of her 
compact, to which her grace replied, ''you may depend 
upon my performance." These words passed between 
them about an hour before the death of the Duchess, 
and were spoken before several friends and attendants 
who were in the room. 

Some years after the Duchess's decease, the narrator 
of these facts, during a visit to Madame de Beauclair, 
referring to the topic of a future life, she expressed 
her disbelief of it with great warmth ; which surpris- 
ing me, I offered some arguments to prove the reason- 
ableness of depending on a life to come : to which 
she answered, that not all that the whole world could 
say should ever persuade her to that opinion ; and 
then she related the compact made between herself 
and the Duchess of Mazarine. 

A few months afterwards, I happened to be at the 
house of a person of rank with whom since the death 
of the Duchess of Mazarine Madame de Beauclair 
was very intimate. We had just set down to cards 
about nine o'clock in the evening, when a servant 
came hastily into the room, and acquainted the lady 
I was with, that Madame de Beauclair had sent to 
entreat she' would come that moment to her, adding, 
that if she desired ever to see her more in this world 
she must not delay her visit. 

So odd a message might naturally surprise the per- 
son to whom it was delivered. She asked who brought 
it, and being told it was Madame de Beauclair's groom 
of the chamber, she ordered that he should come in, 
and demanded of him if his lady was in good health, 



THE DUCHESS OF MAZARINE. 6/ 

or if he knew of anything extraordinary that had 
happened to her, which should occasion this hast)^ 
summons. The groom answered, that he was entirely- 
unable to explain, as he had not heard his lady com- 
plain of any indisposition. 

** Well then," said the liady, rather pettishly," I de- 
sire you will make my excuse, as I have really a cold, 
and am fearful the night-air may increase it ; but to- 
morrow I will not fail to wait on her very early in the 
morning. 

On the departure of the groom, we began to form 
several conjectures on this message from Madame de 
Beauclair, but before we had time to agree on a reason- 
able conclusion, he returned again, accompanied this 
time by Mrs. Ward, her waiting-woman, and both 
were very much confused and almost breathless. 

" Oh, Madam," cried she, " my lady expresses great 
concern at your refusing this request, which she says 
will be her last. She says that she is convinced she 
will not be in a condition to receive your visit to-mor- 
row ; but as a token of her friendship she bequeaths 
you this little casket containing her watch, necklace, 
and other jewels, which she desires you will wear in 
remembrance of her." 

We immediately left the house, but, as no mention 
was made of me in the message, on arriving at Madame 
de Beauclair s house I waited in a lower apartment 
till she might give orders for my admittance. 

She was no sooner informed of m.y presence than 
she desired I would come up. I did so, and found 
her sitting in an easy chair near her bed-side, and, in 
the opinion of all present, in perfect health. 

We enquired if she felt any inward disorder, she 
replied in the negative ; '' yet," said she, with a little 
sigh, "you will soon, very soon, behold me pass from 
this world into that eternity which I once doubted, 
but am now assured of." 



68 SIGNS BEFORE BE A TH. 

As she spoke these last words she looked steadfastly 
in my face. 

I told her I was heartily glad to find so great a 
change in her ladyship's sentiments, but that I hoped 
she had no reason to imagine the conviction would be 
fatal. She only answered with a gloomy smile ; and 
a clergyman of her own persuasion who had been sent 
for, coming in at that moment, we quitted the room. 

In half an hour we were called in again, and she 
appeared to be more cheerful than before ; her eyes 
sparkled with uncommon vivacity, and she told us she 
should die with the more satisfaction, because she was 
enjoying in her last moments the presence of two per- 
sons the most agreeable to her in this world, and in 
the next would be sure of enjoying the society of one 
whom in life she had dearly cherished. 

We now began to dissuade her from giving way to 
such conversation, when she interrupted us by saying, 
*' talk no more of that, — my time is short, and I would 
not have the small space allowed me wasted in vain 
delusion : know," continued she, '* I have seen my dear 
Duchess of Mazarine ; I perceived not how she entered, 
but turning my eyes towards yonder corner of the 
room, I saw her stand in the same dress she was 
accustomed to wear when living. I would fain have 
spoken, but had not the power of utterance : she took 
a circuit round the chamber, seeming rather to swim 
than walk : then halting beside the Indian chest, and 
.looking on me with her usual sweetness, ' Beauclair,' 
said she, 'between the hours of twelve and one this 
night you shall be with me.' My surprise being a little 
abated, I began to ask some questions concerning that 
future world I was so soon to visit, but on the opening 
of my lips for that purpose, she vanished from my 
sight." 

The clock now struck twelve, and as she discovered 
not the least symptoms of any illness, we again en- 



VILLIERS, DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM, 69 

deavoured to remove all apprehensions of death ; but 
we had scarce began to speak when on a sudden her 
countenance changed, and she cried out, " Oh ! I am 
sick at heart !" Mrs. Ward, who during this time 
stood leaning on her chair, applied some salts, but to 
no effect ; she grew still worse, and in about half an 
hour expired ; it being exactly the time the apparition 
foretold. 

I have been thus particular in relating all the circum- 
stances of this affair, as well to prove that I could not 
be deceived in it, as to show that Madame de Beau- 
clair was neither melancholy nor superstitious. This 
lady was far from any such apprehensions, looking 
upon them as ridiculous and absurd, and could have 
been convinced by nothing but the testimony of her 
own eyes and ears. — From H, Welby. 



XXVI. 

Villiers, Ditke of Buckingham, 

Most of our readers are familiar with the history of 
the above nobleman, and the tragical termination of 
his life. The following narrative, as connected with 
this event, will therefore be read with much interest. 

There v/ere many stories scattered abroad at this 
time relating prophecies and predictions of the duke's 
untimely and violent death ; amongst the rest there 
was one that gained some credit. There was an officer 
in the king's wardrobe in Windsor Castle, named Parker, 
about the age of fifty. This man had, in his youth, 
been bred in a school in the parish where Sir George 
Villiers,. the father of the Duke lived, and had been 
much cherished by Sir George, but whom he had never 
seen since his youth. About six months before the 
assassination of the Duke of Buckingham, at midnight, 
this man was in his bed at Windsor, and in good health. 



70 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

when there appeared to him on the side of his bed a 
man of a venerable aspect, who drew the curtains 
aside, and fixinghis eyes upon him, asked him if he 
knew him. 

The poor man, half dead with fear and apprehension, 
being asked the second time whether he remembered 
him, and having in that time called to his memory the 
presence of Sir George Villiers, he answered that he 
thought him to be that person. He replied, he was 
the same, and that he expected a service from him ; 
which w^as, that he should go to his son, the Duke of 
Buckmgham, and tell him, if he did not somewhat 
ingratiate himself with the people, or at least abate 
the extreme malice which they had against him, he 
would be suffered to live but a short time. 

After this discourse he disappeared, and the poor 
man slept well till morning, when he believed all this 
to be a dream. 

The next night, the same person appeared to him 
again m the same place, and about the same time of 
the night, and asked him whether he had done as he 
required of him ; and perceiving he had not, severely 
reprimanded him, and said, that if he did not perform 
his commands he should enjoy no peace of mind, 
but should always be pursued by him ; upon this he 
promised to obey. But the next morning, waking out 
of a good sleep, though he was exceedingly perplexed 
with the lively representation of all the particulars in 
his memory, he was still willing to persuade himself 
he had only dreamed ; and considered that being the 
Duke's inferior he did not know how to gain admission 
to his presence. At length he resolved to do nothing 
m the matter. 

The same vision appeared to him a third time, and 
bitterly reproached him for not performing his promise. 
The poor man had by this time gained courage to tell 
him that he had deferred the execution of his com- 



VILLIERS, DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM. /I 

mands upon considering how difficult it would be for 
him to get any access to the Duke; and if he should 
obtain admission to the Duke, he never would be 
able to persuade him that he was sent to warn him of 
approaching danger. 

The spectre replied, as he had done before, that he 
should never find rest till he had performed what he 
required, and therefore he had better despatch it ; that 
the access to his son was known to be very easy, and 
that few men waited long for him. 

In the morning, the poor man more confirmed by 
the last appearance, started for London, where the 
court was then held. He now called on Sir Ralph 
Freeman, one of the Masters of Requests, who had 
married a lady nearly allied to the Duke ; and was 
well received by him. Through the interest of Sir 
Ralph, Parker obtained a promise of an interview with 
the Duke, who according to his usual condescension 
told him that he was the next day to hunt with the 
King ; that his horses would attend him at Lambeth- 
bridge, where he should land by five o'clock in the 
morning, and if the man attended him there at that 
hour, he would speak with him. 

Sir Ralph presented Parker to the Duke at his land- 
ing, who received him courteously, and conversed with 
him nearly an hour. 

Parker told Sir Ralph in his return over the water, 
that when he mentioned certain particulars the Duke's 
colour changed, and he swore that he could come at 
that knowledge only by the devil ; for that those par- 
ticulars were only known to himself and to another. 

The Duke joined in the chase, but was observed to 
ride all the morning with great pensiveness and in deep 
thought, without any delight in the exercise ; and be- 
fore the morning was spent, he left the field, and alighted 
at his mother's lodgings in Whitehall, with whom he 
was shut up for two or three hours. When the Duke 



72 SIGJVS BEFORE DEA TH, 

left her, his countenance appeared full of trouble mixed 
with anger, and the Countess was found overwhelmed 
in tears, and in deep agony. 

When the news of the Duke*s murder, which hap- 
pened within a few months afterwards, was brought to 
his mother, she seemed not surprised, but received it 
as if she had foreseen it ; nor did she afterwards express 
such a degree of sorrow as was expected from a mother 
for the loss of so valuable a son. 

This story is related in Clarendon's History of the 
Rebellion, and is also told by Lilley in his Observa- 
tions on the Life and Death of King Charles the First. 

A considerable time before this happened. Sir Cle- 
ment Throckmorton dreamed that an assassin would 
kill his Grace. He therefore took the first opportunity 
to advise him to wear a privy coat ; the Duke thanked 
him for his counsel very kindly, but gave him this 
answer, that he thought a coat pf mail would signify 
little in a popular commotion, and from any single 
person he apprehended no danger. — Relique Wotto?L 



xxvn. 

Dr. and Mrs, Donne. 

Doctor Donne and his wife resided for some time 
with Sir Robert Drury, at his house inDruryLane. 
Sir Robert and the Doctor having agreed to accom- 
pany Lord Hay upon an embassy to the Court of 
France, the Doctor left his wife, who was then pregnant, 
in Sir Robert's house. Two days after they had 
arrived at Paris, Dr. Donne happened to be left alone 
in the room where they had dined , but in about half 
an hour Sir Robert returned, when noticing the sad 
air of the Doctor, Sir Robert earnestly requested him 
to state what had befallen him in his short absence ? 



MR. THORNTON OF FULHAM. 73 

The Doctor replied, '' Since you left me I have seen a 
frightful vision, I have seen my dear wife pass by me 
in the room, with her hair hanging about her shoulders, 
and a dead child in her arms.' Sir Robert replied, 
*^ Surely, Sir, you have slept since I left you, and this 
is the ;esult of some melancholy dream, which I would 
have you forget, for you are now awake " Dr. Donne 
replied, " I cannot be more sure that I now live than 
that I have not slept, that I have seen my wife, and 
that she stopped short, looked me in the face, and 
then fled away." This he affirmed the next day with 
more confidence, which induced Sir Robert to think 
that there might be some truth in it. Sir Robert 
immediately dispatched a servant to Drury-house, to 
ascertain whether Mrs. Donne was alive or dead; and 
if alive in what state of health. On the twelfth day 
the messenger returned, stating that he had seen Mrs. 
Donne, that she was very ill; and that after a long 
and painful labour, she had been delivered of a dead 
child ; and upon examination, it proved that the de- 
livery had been on the day Dr. Donne saw the appari- 
tion in- his chamber. — Isaac Walton, 



XXVIII. 

Mr. Thornton of Fulham. 

Mr Thornton was one night extremely agitated by 
a dream. It appeared to him that he saw the gardener 
of his family in the act of murdering the cook. He 
awoke, but endeavoured to dismiss this vision from 
his remembrance, and attempted to compose himself 
to sleep. His eyes were scarcely closed, when again 
the same dreadful picture presented itself to his 
imagination. Alarmed by the extraordinary, the dis- 
tinct, and the repeated intimation, he arose, and taking 



74 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

his night-lamp in his hand, left his room with the in- 
tention of proceeding to the spot indicated in his dream. 
The hour was about four o'clock. The morning was 
clear, moonlight, and frosty. 

The reader will conceive what his surprise must have 
been, when, on entering the kitchen, on his way to 
the garden, he perceived the cook dressed in white, 
putting on her bonnet and cloak, as if preparing for a 
journey. To his inquiries respecting her presence at 
such an unaccustomed hour, and in such extraordinary 
attire, she replied that she was on the point of being 
married to the gardener, — that they were going to a 
neighbouring village for that purpose, — and that Mark 
was waiting for her at the end of the garden with a 
horse and tax-cart to convey her to church. Mr. 
Thornton told her that he of course could have no ob- 
jection to their marriage, though he remonstrated 
against the secrecy of the proceeding; he desired 
her to wait a few moments till his return, as he 
was desirous of speaking to Mark previously to 
their setting off. He* did not delay a moment : 
his mind much misdoubted the good intentions of 
the paramour, and he was not a little struck with 
the coincidence of his dream and the preparations 
which he witnessed. He first went to the bottom of 
the garden^ — to the spot mentioned by the maid- 
servant as the place where Mark was waiting for her 
coming. All was still. There was no Mark ; no 
horse ; no chaise. He then proceeded to the place 
marked out to him by the vision. Here he was 
destined to behold a proceeding of a very doubtful 
character ; working with an indefatigable and hurried 
hand, and with his back turned towards him, Mr. 
Thornton perceived a man digging a pit. As he 
stood at his work, the pit appeared to be about three 
feet deep, and about the same in width, and about six 
feet in length ; it had all the appearance of a grave. 



DR. SCOTT AND THE TITLE DEED, 75 

Mr. Thornton approached silently, and laid his hand 
with a sudden and violent grasp on the man's shoulder. 
Mark turned his eyes upon his master, shuddered, and 
fainted. Were the indications of that dream the 
suggestions of a lying spirit 1 — From H, Welby. 



XXIX. 

Dr, Scott and the Title Deed. 

One evening Dr. Scott was seated by the fire read- 
ing at his house in Broad Street when accidentally 
raising his head, he saw in an elbow chair, at the 
opposite side of the fireplace, a grave gentleman in a 
black velvet gown, a long wig, looking with a pleasing 
countenance towards the doctor, as if about to speak 
to him. 

The doctor was much disturbed. According to his 
narrative of the fact the spectre it seems spoke first, 
and desired the doctor not to be alarmed, that he came 
to him upon a matter of great importance to an in- 
jured family which was in great danger of being 
ruined ; and though he (the doctor) was a stranger to 
the family, yet knowing him to be a man of integrity 
he had chosen him to do this act of charity and 
justice. 

The doctor was not at first composed enough to 
enter into the business with due attention, but seemed 
rather inclined to get out of the room if he could, and 
once or twice made an attempt to knock for some of 
the family to come up. The doctor having at length 
recovered himself, said, '' In the name of God, what 
art thou } '' After much importunity on the part of 
the doctor the apparition made the following state- 
ment : — 

'* I lived in the county of Somerset, where I left a 
very good estate, which my grandson enjoys at this 



76 SIGJVS BEFORE DEA TH, 

time. But he is sued for the possession by my two 
nephews, the sons of my younger brother. 

[Here he gave his own name, the name of his younger 
brother, and the names of his two nephews^ 

The doctor then asked him how long the grandson 
had been in possession of the estate ; he told him seven 
years, intimating that he had been so long dead. 

He then went on to explain that his nephews 
would be too strong for his grandson in the suit, and 
would deprive him of the mansion-house and estate ; 
so that he would be in danger of being entirely 
ruined, and his family reduced. 

The doctor then said, ''And what am I able to do 
in it if the law be against him t '' 

" Why," said the spectre, " it is not that the nephews 
have any right ; but the grand deed of settlement, being 
the conveyance of the inheritance, is lost : and for 
want of that deed they will not be able to make out 
their title to the estate." 

" Well," said the doctor, '[ and still what can I do in 
the case } " 

" Why," said the spectre, " if you will go down to 
my grandson's house, and take some persons with you 
whom you can trust, I will give you such instructions, 
that you shall find out the deed of settlement, which 
lay concealed in a place where I put it, and where 
you shall direct my grandson to take it out in your 
presence." 

" But why then can you not direct your grandson 
himself to do this "i " 

" Ask me not about that," said the spectre, " there 
are divers reasons which you may know hereafter. 
I can depend upon your honesty in the meantime, and 
matters shall be so disposed that you shall have your 
expenses paid you and be handsomely rew^arded for 
your trouble." 

Having obtained a promise from Dr. Scott, the 



DR. SCOTT AND THE TITLE DEED, 77 

spectre told him he might apprise his grandson that 
he had formerly known his grandfather and ask to 
see the house ; and that in a certain upper room or 
loft he would see a quantity of old lumber, coffers, 
chests, &c., which had been thrown aside, to make 
room for more fashionable furniture. 

That in a certain corner he should find an old 
chest with a broken lock upon it and a key m it, 
which could neither be turned in the lock nor pulled 
out. In this chest lay the grand deed or charter of 
the estate, which conveyed the inheritance and with- 
out which the family might be ejected. The doctor 
having promised to despatch this important commis- 
sion, the spectre disappeared. 

After a lapse of some days, and within the time 
limited by the proposal of the spectre, the doctor 
went into Somicrsetshire, and having found the house 
alluded to he was very courteously invited in. They 
now entered upon friendly discourse, and the doctor 
pretended to have heard much of the family and of 
his grandfather, from whom, he said, he perceived the 
estate descended to its present occupier. 

" Aye," said the gentleman, shaking his head, '' my 
father died young, and my grandfather left things so 
confused that for want of one principal writing, which 
is not yet come to hand, I have met wuth great trouble 
from two cousins, my grandfather's brother's children, 
who have put me to very great expense about it." 

" But I hope you have got over it, sir .^ '' said the 
doctor. 

"No," said the gentleman, "to be candid with you, 
we shall never get quite over it, unless we can find 
this old deed ; wdiich, however, I hope we shall find, 
for I intend to make a general search after it.'* 

" I wish with all my heart you may find it, sir/' 
said the doctor. 



7^ SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

" I do not doubt but we shall ; I had a strange 
dream about it last night," said the gentleman. 

" A dream about the writing ! '' said the doctor, " I 
hope it was that you should find it then/' 

*' I dreamed," said the other, " that a strange gentle- 
man came to me, and assisted me in searching for it. 
I do not know but that you are the man." 

" I should be very glad to be the man," said the 
doctor. 

" Nay,'' replied the gentleman, " you may be the 
man to help me to look after it." 

" Aye, sir," said the doctor, " I may help you to 
look after it, indeed, and I will do that with all my 
heart ; but I would much rather be the man that 
should help you to find it; pray when do you intend 
to search 1 " 

" To-morrow," said the gentleman, " I have ap- 
pointed to search for it." 

"But," said the doctor, "in what manner do you 
intend to search .? " 

" Why," replied the gentleman, " it is our opinion 
that my grandfather was so very much concerned in 
preserving this writing and had so much jealousy as 
to its safety, that he hid it in a secret place ; and I 
am resolved to pull half the house down, but I will 
find it, if it is above ground." 

"Truly," said the doctor, "he may have hid it, so 
that you may pull the whole house down before you 
find it. I have known such things utterly lost by the 
very care taken to preserve them." 

" If it was made of something the fire would not 
destroy," said the gentleman, " I would burn the house 
down, but I would find it." 

" I suppose you have searched all the old gentle- 
man's chests, trunks, and coffers over and over," said 
the doctor. 

"Aye," said the gentleman, "and turned them all 



I)R. SCOTT AND THE TITLE DEED, 79 

inside outward, and there they lay in a heap up in a 
loft or garret with nothing in them ; nay, we knocked 
three or four of them in pieces to search for private 
drawers, and then I burnt them for anger, though they 
were fine old cypress chests that cost money enough 
when they were in fashion." 

*' I am sorry you burnt them," said the doctor. 

*' Nay," said the gentleman, '' I did not burn a scrap 
of them till they were all split to pieces, and it was 
not possible there could be any thing in them." 

This made the doctor a little easy, for he began to 
be surprised when he told him he had split some of 
them and burned them. 

" Well," said the doctor, '' if I cannot do you any 
service in your search, I will come to see you again to- 
morrow, and wait upon you during it with my best 
good wishes." 

" Na3V' says the gentleman, " I do not design to 
part with you, since you are so kind as to offer me 
your assistance ; you shall stay all night, then, and be 
at the commencement of the search." 

The doctor had now gained his point so far as to 
make an intimacy with the famiily ; and after much 
entreaty he consented to sleep in the house. 

A little before dark, the gentleman asked him to 
take a walk in the park, but he declined ; " I would 
rather, sir," said he smiling, '' that you show me this 
fine old mansion house, that is to be demolished to- 
morrow ; methinks I would fain see the house once 
before you pull it down." 

" With all my heart," said the gentleman. He took 
him immediately up stairs, showed him the best apart- 
ments, and his fine furniture and pictures ; and coming 
to the head of the staircase, offered to descend. 

" But, sir," said the doctor, '' shall we not go higher ?" 

" There is nothing there/' said he, but garrets and 



80 SIGNS BEFORE BE A TH, 

old lofts full of rubbish, and a place leading to the 
turret and the clock-house." 

"' O, let me see it all, now we are here," said the 
doctor, '' I love to see the old lofty towers arid turrets, 
the magnificence of our ancestors, though they are 
out of fashion now ; pray let me see them." 

After they had rambled over the mansion, they 
passed by a great lumber room, the door of which 
stood open. 

" And what place is this } " said the doctor. 

" O ! that is the room," said the gentleman, "where 
all the rubbish, the chests, coffers, and trunks lie ; see 
how they are piled one upon another almost to the 
ceiling." 

Upon this the doctor began to look around him. He 
had not been in the room two minutes before he found 
everything precisely as the spectre in London had de- 
scribed ; he went directly to the pile he had been told 
of, and fixed his eye upon the very chest with the old 
rusty lock upon it, which would neither turn round nor 
come out. 

" On my word, sir," said the doctor, '^ you have taken 
pains enough, if you have searched all these drawers, 
chests, and coffers, and everything that may have been 
in them." 

'' Indeed, sir," said the gentleman, " I have examined 
them myself, and looked over all the musty writings 
one by one ; and they have all passed through my 
hand and under my eye." 

'' Well, sir," said the doctor, *' will you gratify my 
curiosity by opening and emptying this small chest or 
coffer.?" 

The gentleman, looking at the chest, said, smiling, 
" I remember opening it ; and turning to his servant, 
he said, " William, do you not remember that chest t " 
'* Yes, sir," replied the servant, " I remember you were 
so tired, that you sat down upon the chest when every- 



DR, SCOTT AND THE TITLE DEED, 8 1 

thing was out of it ; that you shut the lid, and sat down 
and sent me to my lady to bring you a dram of citron ; 
and that you said you were ready to faint/' 

"Well, sir/' said the doctor, ''its only a whim of 
mine, and probably it may contain nothing/' 

''You shall see it turned upside down before your 
face, as well as the rest/' 

Immediately the coffer was dragged out and opened. 
When the papers were all out, the doctor turning 
round, as if looking among them, but taking little or 
no notice of the chest, stooped down as if supporting 
himself with his cane, struck the same into the chest, 
but snatched it out again hastily as if it had been a 
mistake, and turning to the chest, he shut the lid, and 
seated himself upon it. Having dismissed the servant, 
'' Now, sir," said he, '' I have found your writing ; I 
have found your grand deed of settlement ; and I will 
lay you a hundred guineas I have it in this coffer." 
■ The gentleman took up the lid again, handled the 
chest, looked over every part of it ; but could see 
nothing; he was confo.unded and amazed! ''What 
do you mean ? " said he to the doctor, '' here is nothing 
but an empty coffer/' 

" Upon my word," said the doctor, " I am no magi- 
cian, but I tell you again the writing is in this coffer." 

The gentleman knocked and called for his servant 
with the hammer, but the doctor still sat composed 
upon the lid of the coffer. 

At length the man came with a hammer and chisel, 
and the doctor set to work upon the chest, knocking 
upon the flat of the bottom. " Hark ! " says he, " don't 
you hear it sir } don't you hear it plainly } " 

" Hear what ? " said the gentleman ; " I do not under- 
stand you." 

" Why the chest has a double bottom, sir, a false 
bottom," said the doctor, " don't you hear it sound 
hollow/' 

6 



^2 



SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 



In a word, they immediately split the inner bottom 
open, and there found the parchment spread abroad 
flat on the whole breadth of the bottom of the trunk. 

It is impossible to describe the joy and surprise of 
the gentlemen, and of thfe whole family ; the former 
sent for his lady and two of his daughters to come 
into the garret among the rubbish, to see the place 
and manner in which the writing was found. — Froui 
H. Welby. 



XXX, 

Do7'othy Dmgley of Latmceston, CornwalL 

In the beginning of the year 1665, a disease happened 
in this town, and some of my scholars (the minister of 
the town is speaking) died of it. Among others who 
fell victims to its malignity was John Elliott, the eldest 
son of Edward Elliot of Treberse, Esq., a stripling 
about sixteen years of age, but of uncommon abilities. 
At his particular request, I preached at his funeral, 
which happened on the 20th day of June, 1665. In 
my discourse I spoke some words in commendation of 
the young gentleman. An old gentleman, who was 
then in the church, was much affected with the dis- 
course, and was often heard to repeat the same even- 
ing a line which I quoted from Virgil : — 

Et piier ipse contrari digitus. 

The cause of this old gentleman's concern was the 
application of my observations to his own son, who 
being but a few months younger than Mr. Elliot, was 
now by a strange accident quite beyond hope of 
recovery. 

The funeral ceremony being over, on leaving the 
church, I was courteously accosted by this old gentle- 
man ; and with unusual importunity, almost forced 



DOROTHY DINGLE V OF LA UNCESTON. 8 3 

against my will to his house that night, nor could I 
have even declined his kindness had not Mr. Elliot 
interposed. I excused myself for the present, but was 
constrained to promise to wait upon him at his own 
house the Monday following. This then seemed satis- 
factory, but before Monday I received a message 
requesting that if possible I would be there on the 
Sunday. This second attempt I resisted, by answer- 
ing that it was inconvenient. The gentleman sent me 
another letter on the Saturday enjoining me by no 
means to fail coming upon the Monday. I was in- 
deed startled at so much eagerness, and began to 
suspect that there must be some design in this excess 
of courtesy. 

On Monday I paid my promised visit, and met 
with a reception as free as the invitation w^as importu- 
nate. There also I met a neighbouring minister, who 
pretended to call in accidentally, but by the sequel I 
supposed it otherwise. After dinner this brother of the 
cloth undertook to show me the gardens, where, as 
we were walking, he intimated to me the main object 
of this treat. 

First he apprised me of the unhappiness of the 
family in general, and then instanced the youngest 
son in particular. He related what a hopeful youth 
he had been, and how melancholy he was now grown, 
deeply lamenting that his ill-humour should so in- 
credibly subdue his reason. '' The poor boy," said he, 
" believes himself to be haunted by ghosts, and is con- 
fident that he meets with an evil spirit in a certain 
field about half a mile from this place, as often as he 
goes that way to school." In the midst of our dis- 
course, the old gentleman and his lady came up to us. 
The clergyman continued the narrative, and the 
parents of the youth confirmed what he ^aid, and 
they all desired my opinion and advice on the affair. 

1 replied, that what the youth had reported to them 



84 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TIL 

was strange, yet not incredible, and that I knew not 
then what to think or say on the subject ; but if the 
lad would explain himself to me, I hoped to give them 
a better account of my opinion the next day. 

The youth was called immediately, and I soon 
entered into a close conference with him. At first I was 
very cautious not to displease him, but endeavoured to 
ingratiate myself with him. But we had scarce passed 
the first salutation and begun to speak of the business, 
before I found him very communicative. He asserted 
that he was constantly disturbed by the appearance of 
a woman in an adjacent field, called Higher Brown 
Ouartils. He next told me in a flood of tears, that 
his friends were so unkind and unjust to him as neither 
to believe nor pity him ;| and that if any man would go 
with him to the place he might be convinced that his 
assertion was true. 

"This woman who appears to me," said he, "lived 
neighbour to my father, and died about eight years 
since ; her name was Dorothy Dingley." He then 
stated her stature, age, and complexion : that she 
never spoke to him, but passed by hastily, and always 
left him the foot-path, and that she commonly met 
him twice or three times in the breadth of the field. 

" Two months had elapsed," he continued, " before 
I took any further notice of it, and though the face 
was in my memory, yet I could not recal the name ; 
but I concluded that it was some woman who lived 
in the neighbourhood, and frequently passed that 
way. Nor did I imagine otherwise, until she met 
me constantly morning and evening, and always in 
the same field, and sometimes twice or thrice in the 
breadth of it. 

" The first time I noticed her was about a year 
since ; and when I began to suspect and believe it to 
be a ghost, I had courage enough not to be afraid. I 
often spoke to it, but never had a word in answer. 



D OR OTHY DINGLE Y OF LA UNCESTON. 8 5 

I then changed my way and went to school by the under 
horse road, and then she met me in the narrow lane, 
between the quarry park and the nursery-ground. 

At length I began to be terrified at it, and prayed 
continually that God would either free me from it, or 
let me know the meaning of it. Night and day, sleep- 
ing or waking, the shape was ever running in my mind ; 
and I often repeated these passages of Scripture (Job. 
vii. 14) '' Thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest 
me through visions ;'' and (Deut. xxviii. 67) ''In the 
morning thou shalt say, would God it were evening, 
and at evening thou shalt say, would God it were 
morning, for the fear of thine heart, wherewith thou 
shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou 
shalt see." 

I was much pleased with the lad's ingenuity, in the 
application of these pertinent texts of scripture to his 
condition, and desired him to proceed, which he did as 
follows : — 

'' By degrees I grew very pensive, insomuch that I 
was noticed by all our family; being questioned closely 
on the subject I told my brother William of it, and 
he privately acquainted my father and mother. 

'' They however laughed at me, and enjoined me to 
attend to my school, and keep such fancies out of my 
head. 

'' I accordingly v\^ent to school regularly, but always 
met the woman in the way." 

Our conference ended in my offering to accompany 
him to the field, which proposal he received with ecstasy, 
and we accordingly went. 

The gentleman, his wife, and Mr. Williams, were 
impatient to know the result, insomuch that they came 
out of the parlour into the hall to meet us ; and seeing 
the lad look cheerful, the first compliment from the 
old man was, '' Come, Mr. Ruddle, now you have 
talked with Sam I hope he will have more wit ; an idle 



86 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TIL 

boy, an idle boy ! " At these words the lad ran up 
stairs to his chamber without replying, and I soon 
stopped the curiosity of the three expectantSy by tell- 
ing them I had promised silence and was resolved to 
be as good as my word, but that they should soon know 
all. 

The next morning, before five o'clock, the lad was 
in my chamber, when I arose and went with him. 
The field he led me to was some twenty acres in ex- 
tent, in an open country, and about three furlongs 
from any house. We had not proceeded above a third 
pare over the held, before the spectre, in the shape of 
a woman, exactly as he had described her to me in the 
orchard the day before, met us and passed by. I was 
somewhat surprised at it; and though I had firmly 
resolved to speak to it, yet I had not the power, nor 
indeed durst I look back. We walked to the end of 
the field, and returned, but the spectre did not then 
meet us again. On our return home, the lady waited 
to speak with me ; I told her that my opinion was, 
that her son's complaint was not to be slighted, nor 
altogether discredited. 

On the morning of the 27th day of July, 1665, I 
went to the haunted field alone, and walked the 
breadth of it without any encounter. I returned and 
took the other walk, and then the spectre appeared to 
me at about the same place I saw it before when the 
young gentleman was with me ; in my idea it moved 
swifter than the time before, and was about ten feet 
distant from me on my right hand. 

On the evening of this day I proposed that the 
parents and the son should go with me to the place next 
morning, and it was decided to do so. In the morn- 
ing, lest we should alarm the servants, they went under 
the pretence of seeing a field of wheat, and I took my 
horse, and met them at the place appointed. 

Thence we all four walked leisurely into the Quartils, 



DORO THY DINGLE Y OF LA UNCES TON, 8/ 

and had passed about half the field before the spectre 
made its appearance. It then came over the stile just 
before us, and moved with such swiftness that by the 
time we had gone six or seven steps it had passed by. 
I immediately turned my head and ran after it, with 
the young man by my side ; we saw it pass over the 
stile at which we entered, and disappear. I stepped 
upon the hedge at one place and he at another, but 
could discern nothing, whereas I dare aver that the 
swiftest horse in England could not have conveyed 
himself out of sight in that short space of time. Two 
things I observed in this day's appearance : — 

1. That a spaniel dog who followed the company 
unregarded, barked and ran away as the spectre passed 
by. 

2. That the motion of the spectre was not by steps 
or moving of the feet, but by a kind of sliding as chil- 
dren upon the ice, or a boat down a swift river, which 
exactly answers the descriptions the ancients gave of 
the motion of their lemurs. 

This ocular evidence convinced, but strangely 
frightened, the old gentleman and his wife, who 
knew Dorothy Dingley in her lifetime, were at her 
funeral, and plainly saw her features in this present 
apparition. I was resolved to proceed, and use such 
means as learned men have successfully practised in 
these uncommon cases. 

The next morning being Thursday, I went out very 
early by myself, and walked for about an hour's space 
in meditation and prayer in the field's adjoining the 
Quartils. Soon after five I stepped over the stile, into 
the disturbed field, and had not gone above thirty or 
forty paces before the spectre appeared at the farther 
stile. I spoke to it with a loud voice, whereupon it 
approached but slowly, and when I came near, it moved 
not. I spoke again, and it answered in a voice neither 
very audible nor intelligible. I was not in the least 



88 SIGNS BEFORE BE A TH. 

terrified, and therefore persisted, until it spoke again, 
and satisfied me. 

On the evening of the same day, an hour after sun- 
set, it met me again near the same place, and after a 
few words on each side it quietly vanished, and neither 
appeared since nor ever will more to any man's dis- 
turbance. The conversation in the morning lasted 
about a quarter of an hour. 

These things are true, and I know them to be so 
with as much certainty as eyes and ears can give me ; 
and until I can be persuaded that my senses deceive 
me ; and by that persuasion deprive myself of the 
strongest inducement to believe the Christian religion, 
I must and will assert, that these things in this paper 
are true. I know full well with what difficulty rela- 
tions of so uncommon a nature and practice obtain 
belief. 

Such is the narrative of the Rev. Mr. Ruddle, a cler- 
gyman of some note at Launceston, in Cornwall. It 
wants neither name, date, nor place, but every par- 
ticular seems to be detailed with the utmost precision 
and fidelity. — From H, Welby. 



XXXI. 

Singular Vision to Mrs. Lowe, 

One morning in the summer of 1745, Mrs. Jane 
Lowe, housekeeper to Mr. Pringle, of Clifton Park, 
in the south of Scotland, beheld the apparition of a 
lady walking in the avenue, on the margin of a rivulet, 
which runs into Kale water. The form resembled a 
daughter of her master, who had long been absent 
from the family, at the distance of about a hundred 
miles south of Paris. As Mrs. Lowe walked down the 
avenue and approached the rivulet, this resemblance 
impressed her so strongly that, seeing her master in 



SINGULAR VISION TO MRS. LOWE. 89 

an enclosure adjoining, she went and told him what 
she had see'n. Mr. Pringle laughed, and said, ''you 
simple woman, that lady is Miss Chattow of More- 
battle." However, Mrs. Lowe prevailed upon him to 
accompany her to the place, which they had nearly 
reached, when the apparition sprung into the water 
and instantly disappeared. 

Mr. Pringle and Mrs. Lowe, on returning to the hall, 
apprized the family of the vision, and for their pains 
were heartily laughed at. The Rev. Mr. Turnbull, 
minister of Linton, happened to breakfast that morn- 
ing with Mr. Pringle, his lady, and two young daughters, 
who joined in the laugh. About three months after- 
wards, the same reverend gentleman honoured the 
family with his company ; when standing at a window 
in the lower room, he observed a poor, ragged, lame, 
lean man, slov/ly approaching the house. "Here comes 
another apparition," cried Mr. Turnbull, with a kind of 
contemptuous smile. This drew the immediate atten- 
tion of all present, and Mr. Pringle quickly recognised 
the person to be his second son, whom he had not 
seen before for above ten years. 

On his. arrival, he soon convinced them he was not 
an apparition, declaring that he had narrowly escaped 
with his life from Tunis, in the vicinity of which he 
had been a slave to the Algerines seven years, but had 
happily been ransomed at the critical moment when 
he was ordered to be put to death for m.utiny. He 
added, that on his return home through France, he 
called at the place where he had heard that his sister 
jesided, and to his unspeakable grief found that she 
died on the 25th of May, the same summer, about five 
o'clock in the morning, which he recollected to have 
been the precise time when he was saved from the 
jaws of death, and when he thought he beheld his 
sister. Mrs. Lowe, who was present in the room, on 
hearing his declaration, added her testimony by affirm- 



90 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

ing that the day alluded to was that on which she had 
shown Mr. Pringle the apparition ; and this was con- 
firmed by the reverend divine, in whose study this 
narrative was found after his death. — From H, Welby. 



XXXII. 

A 71 Experience of a Konigsberg Professor, 

" I am not so decidedly sceptical on the possibility 
of supernatural appearances," said Count Falkesheim 
to Sir Nathaniel Wraxall, " as to treat them with ridi- 
cule, because they may appear to be unphilosophical. 
I received my education in the University of Konigs- 
berg, where I had the advantage of attending lectures 
in ethics and moral philosophy, delivered by a pro- 
fessor who was esteemed a very superior man in those 
branches of science. He had, nevertheless, though an 
ecclesiastic, the reputation of being tinctured with in- 
credulity on various points connected with revealed 
religion. When, therefore, it became necessary for 
him in the course of his lectures to treat on the nature 
of spirit as detached from matter, to discuss the im- 
mortality of the soul, and to enter on the doctrine of 
a future state, I listened with more than ordinary 
attention to his opinions. In speaking of all these 
mysterious subjects, there appeared to me to be so 
visible an embarrassment, both in his language and in 
his expressions, that I felt the strongest curiosity to 
question him further respecting them. Finding myself 
alone with him soon aftterwards, I ventured to state 
to him my remarks on his deportment, and entreated 
him to tell me if they were well founded or only ima- 
ginary suggestions. 

*' The hesitation which you noticed," answered he, 
" resulted from the conflict that takes place within me, 
when I am attempting to convey my ideas on a sub- 



AN EXPERIENCE OF A PROFESSOR. 9 1 

ject where my understanding is at variance with the 
testimony of my senses. I am equally, from reason 
and reflection, disposed to consider with incredulity and 
contempt the existence of apparitions. But an appear- 
ance, which I have witnessed with my own eyes, as 
far as they, or any of the perceptions can be confided, 
in, and which has even received a sort of subsequent 
confirmation from other circumstances connected with 
the original facts, leave me in that state of scepticism 
and suspense which pervaded my discourse. I will 
communicate to you its cause. Having been brought 
up to the profession of the church, I was presented by 
Frederick William the First, late King of Prussia, to a 
small benefice, situated in the interior of the country, 
at a considerable distance south of Konigsberg. I re- 
paired thither in order to take possession of my living, 
and found a neat parsonage house, where I passed the 
night in the bed-chamber which had been occupied by 
my predecessor. 

" It was in the longest days of summer ; and on the 
following morning, which was Sunday, while lying 
awake, the curtains of the bed being undrawn and it 
being broad daylight, I beheld the figure of a man 
habited in a sort of loose gown, standing at a reading 
desk on which lay a large book, the leaves of which 
he appeared to turn over at intervals ; on each side of 
him stood a little boy, in whose faces he looked 
earnestly from time to time, and as he looked he 
seemed always to heave a deep sigh. His counte- 
nance, pale and disconsolate, indicated some distress 
,of mind. I had the most perfect view of these objects, 
but being impressed with too much terror and appre- 
hension to rise or to address myself to the appearance 
before me, I remained for some minutes a breathless 
and silent spectator, without uttering a word or alter- 
ing my position. At length the man closed the book, 
and then taking the two children, one in each hand. 



92 SIGNS BEFORE DEATH. 

he led them slowly across the room ; my eyes eagerly 
followed him till the three figures gradually disap- 
peared or were lost behind an iron stove which stood 
at the furthest corner of the apartment. 

" However deeply and awfully I was affected by the 
sight which I had witnessed, and however incapable I 
was of explaining it to my own satisfaction, yet I re- 
covered sufficiently the possession of my mind to get 
up, and having hastily dressed myself, I left the house. 
The sun was long risen, and directing my steps to the 
church, I found that it was open but the sexton had 
quitted it ; on entering the chancel my mind and 
imagination were so strongly impressed by the scene 
which had recently passed, that I endeavoured to dis- 
sipate the recollection by considering the objects 
around me. In almost all the Lutheran churches of 
Prussian dominions, it is the custom to hang up 
against the walls or some part of the building, the 
portraits of the successive pastors or clergymen who 
have held the living. A number of these paintings, 
rudely performed, were suspended in one of the aisles. 
I had no sooner fixed my eyes on the last on the . 
range, which was the portrait of my immediate prede- 
cessor, than they became rivetted to the object, as I 
instantly recognised the same face which I had beheld 
in my bed-chamber, though not clouded by the same 
deep impression of melancholy and distress. The 
sexton entered as I was still contemplating this in- 
teresting head, and I immediately began a conversa- 
tion with him on the subject of the persons who had 
preceded me in the living. He remembered sever?! 
incumbents, concerning whom respectively I made 
various inquiries, till I came to the last relative to 
whose history I was particularly inquisitive. 'We 
considered him,' said the sexton, 'one of the most 
learned and amiable men that had ever resided among 
us. His character and benevolence endeared him to 



AN EXPERIENCE OF A PROFESSOR. 93 

all his parishioners, who will long lament his loss. 
But he was carried off in the middle of his days by a 
lingering illness, the cause of which has given rise to 
many unpleasant reports among us, and which still 
forms matter of conjecture. It is however commonly 
believed that he died of a broken heart.' 

" My curiosity being still more warmly excited by 
the mention of this circumstance, I eagerly pressed 
him to disclose to me all he knew or had heard on the 
subject. ' Nothing respecting it,' answered he, 'is abso- 
lutely known, but scandal has propagated astor}'^of 
his having formed a criminal connection with a young 
woman of the neighbourhood, by whom it w^as even 
asserted he had two sons. As some confirmation of 
the report, I know that there certainly were two chil- 
dren who had been seen at the parsonage, boys of 
about four or five years old, and w^ho suddenly dis- 
appeared some time before the decease of their sup- 
posed father, and what has become of them we none 
of us know. It is equally certain that the sur- 
mises and unfavourable opinions formed respecting 
this m.ysterious business, which must necessarily have 
reached him, precipitated, if they did not produce, the 
disorder of which our late pastor died : but he is gone 
to his account, and we are bound to think charitably 
of the departed.' 

^* It is unnecessary to say with what emotion I 
listened to this relation, which recalled to my ima- 
gination, and seemed to give proof of the existence of 
all that I had seen. Yet unwilling to suffer my mind 
to become enslaved by phantoms which might have 
been the effect of error or deception, I neither com- 
municated to the sexton what I had witnessed, nor 
even permitted myself to quit the chamber where it 
had taken place. I continued to lodge there without 
ever witnessing any similar appearance ; and the recol- 
lection itself began to wear away as the autumn ad- 



94 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

vanced. When the approach of winter rendered it 
necessary to light fires through the house, I ordered 
the iron stove which stood in the room, and behind 
which the figures which I beheld seemed to disappear, 
to be heated for the purpose of warming the apart- 
ment. Some difficulty was experienced in making 
the attempt, the stove not only smoking intolerably, 
but emitting an offensive smell. Having therefore 
sent for a blacksmith to inspect and repair it, he dis- 
covered in the inside, at the farthest extremity, the 
bones of two small human bodies, corresponding per- 
fectly in size as well as in other respects with the des- 
cription given me by the sexton of the two boys who 
had been seen at the parsonage. 

'' This last circumstance completed my astonish- 
ment, and appeared to confer a sort of reality on an 
appearance which might otherwise have been con- 
sidered as a delusion of the senses. I resigned the 
living, quitted the place, and retired to Konigsberg ; 
but it produced on my mind the deepest impression, 
and has in its effect given rise to that uncertainty and 
contradiction of sentiment which you remarked in my 
late discourse/' — From H, Welby, 



XXXIIL 

The Rochester Apparition. 

The following narrative was communicated in a letter 
from Mr. Thomas Tilson, minister of Aylesworth, 
in Kent, to Mr. Baxter, as a contribution to his cele- 
brated work, " The Certainty of the World of Spirits." 

*' Rev. Sir, — Being informed that you are writing 
about spectres and apparitions, I take the freedom, 
though a stranger, to send you the following relation : 

" Mary, the wife of John Goffe, of Rochester, being 



THE ROCHESTER APPARITION, 95 

afflicted with a long illness, removed to her father's 
house at West-Mulling, which is about nine miles 
distant from her own ; there she died, June 4, 1691. 

" The day before her death, she grew impatiently 
desirous to see her two children, whom she had left 
at home in the care of a nurse. She prayed her hus- 
band to hire a horse, for she must go home and die 
with her children. When they persuaded her to the 
contrary, telling her she was not fit to be taken out 
of her bed, nor able to sit on horseback, she entreated 
them however to try ; ' If I cannot sit,' said she, ' I 
will lie along upon the horse, for I must go to see my 
babes.' 

" A minister who lives in the town was with her at 
ten o'clock that night, to whom she expressed good 
hopes in the mercies of God, and a willingness to die ; 
' but,' said she, ' it is my misery that I cannot see my 
children.' 

''Between one and two o'clock in the morning she 
fell into a trance. One Widow Turner, who watched 
with her that night, says that her eyes were open, and 
fixed, and her jaw fallen ; she put her hand upon her 
mouth and nostrils, but could perceive no breath ; she 
thought her to be in a fit, and doubted whether she 
were alive or dead. 

" The next day, this dying woman told her mother 
that she had been at home with her children. ' That 
is impossible,' said the mother, ' for you have been 
here in bed all the while.' ' Yes,' replied the other, 
* but I was with them last night when I was asleep.' 

" The nurse at Rochester, Widow Alexander by 
name, affirms, and says she will take her oath of it 
before a magistrate, and receive the sacrament upon 
it, that a little before two o'clock that morning, she 
saw the likeness of the said Mary Goffe come out of 
the next chamber (where the elder child lay in a bed 
by itself, the door being left open), and stand by her 



96 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

bedside for about a quarter of an hour; the younger 
child was there lying by her ; her eyes moved, and 
her mouth, but she said nothing. The nurse more- 
over says she was perfectly awake as it was then 
daylight, being one of the longest days in the year. 
She sat up in her bed and looked stedfastly upon the 
apparition ; she then heard the bridge clock strike 
two, and a little while after, said, ' In the name of 
the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, what art thou ? ' 
Thereupon the appearance removed and went away ; 
she slipped on her clothes and followed, but what be- 
came of it she cannot tell. Then, and not before, she 
began to be grievously affrighted, and went out of 
doors and walked upon the wharf (the house is just 
by the river side) for some hours, only going in now 
and then to look at the children. At five o'clock she 
went to a neighbour's house, and knocked at the 
door, but they would not rise ; at six she went again, 
then they arose and let her in. She related to them 
all that had passed ; they tried to persuade her that 
she was mistaken, or had dreamt, but she confidently 
affirmed, ' if ever I saw her in all my life, I saw her 
this night.' 

" One of those to whom she made the relation, the 
wife of Mr. J. Sweet, had a messenger who came from 
Mulling that forenoon to let her know her neighbour 
Gofife was dying, and desired to speak with her ; she 
went over the same day, and found her just departing. 
Tfie mother, amongst other discourse, related to her 
how much her daughter had longed to see her chil- 
dren, and declared she had seen them. This brought 
to Mrs, Sweet's mind what the nurse had told her 
that morning, for, till then, she had not thought fit to 
mention it, but disguised it rather as the woman's 
disturbed imagination. 

" The substance of this I had related to me by 
John Carpenter, the father of the deceased, next day 



CASHIO BURROUGHS AND THE COURTESAN, 97 

after the burial. July 2nd, I fully discoursed the 
matter with the nurse and the two neighbours. 

" Two days after I had it from the mother, the 
minister that was with her in the evening, and the 
woman who sat up with her that last night ; they all 
agree in the story, and every one helps to strengthen 
the other's testimony. 

*' They all appear to be sober, intelligent persons, 
far enough off from designing to impose a cheat upon 
the world, or to manage a lie, and what temptation 
they should lie under for so doing, I cannot conceive. 

Your most faithful and humble servant, 

THOMAS TILSON. 

Minister of Aylesford, near Maidstone, 
in Kent. 



XXXIV. 

Cashio Burroughs and the Coin^tesan, . 

' Sir John Burroughs being sent Envoy to the Em- 
peror by King Charles I. took his eldest son Cashio 
Burroughs with him ; and passing through Italy left 
his son at Florence to learn the language, where he 
became involved in an intrigue with a beautiful cour- 
tesan, mistress to the Grand Duke. Their familiarity 
became so public, that it came at length to the Duke's 
ears, who resolved to have him murdered. Cashio 
having timely notice of the Duke's design, immediately 
left the city without acquainting his mistress of his 
departure, and came to England. The Duke, being 
disappointed of his revenge, now directed towards his 
mistress the most reproachful language ; she, resenting 
the sudden departure of her gallant, of whom she was 
most passionately enamoured, killed herself. At the 
same moment that she expired, she appeared to 

7 



98 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

Cashio at his lodgings at London, first rebuked him 
for his ingratitude to her, in leaving her so suddenly 
and exposing her to the fury of the Duke, then re- 
lated her own tragical exit, adding that he should be 
slain in a duel ; which accordingly happened. Thus 
she appeared to him frequently, even when his younger 
brother (who was afterwards Sir John) was in the 
same bed with him. As often as she appeared, he 
cried out with great trembling of body and anguish 
of mind, " Oh God ! she comes ! she comes !" and in 
this manner she haunted him till he was killed. She 
appeared to him in the morning before that event. 
" Some of my acquaintances," says Aubrey, " have 
told me that he was one of the handsomest men in 
England, and very valiant." — Aubrey s Miscellanies. 



XXXV. 

Captain Rogers' Dream, 

In the year 1694, one Captain Thomas Rogers, 
commander of a ship called " The Society," was bound 
on a voyage from London to Virginia. 

They had a pretty good passage, and the day before 
had made an observation, when the mates and officers 
brought their books and cast up their reckonings with 
the captain, to see how near they were to the coast of 
America. They all agreed that they were at least a 
hundred leagues from the capes of Virginia. After 
these customary reckonings, and heaving the lead, 
and finding no ground at an hundred fathoms, they 
set the watch and the captain turned into bed. 

The weather was good, a moderate gale of wind 
blew fair for the coast, so that the ship might have 
run about twelve or fifteen leagues in the night after 
the captain went to his cabin. 

He fell asleep, and slept very soundly for about 



CAPTAIN ROGER'S DREAM. 99 

three hours, when he awoke and lay till he heard his 
second mate turn out and relieve the watch ; he then 
called his chief mate, as he was going off from the 
watch, and asked him how all things fared ; who an- 
swered that all was well, the gale fresh, and they were 
running at a great rate, but it was a fair wind and a 
fine clear night ; the captain then went to sleep again. 

About an hour after this he dreamed that a man 
pulled him, and waked him, and bade him turn out 
and look abroad. He, however, lay still, and was 
suddenly awaked again, and thus several times ; and 
though he knew not what was the reason, yet he 
found it impossible to go to sleep ; and still he heard 
the vision say, " turn out and look abroad." 

He lay in this uneasiness nearly two hours, but at 
last he could lie no longer, so got up, put on his 
watch gown and came out upon the quarter-deck ; 
there he found his second mate walking about, and 
the boatswain upon the forecastle, the night being 
fine and clear, a fair wind, and all well as before. 

The mate wondering, at first did not know him ; 
but calling, " Who is there ? " the captain answered, 
and the mate returned, "The captain! what is the 
matter, sir ? " 

The captain said, '^ I don't know ; but I have been 
very uneasy these two hours, and somebody bade me 
turn out, and look abroad, though I know not what 
can be the meaning of it. 

" How does the ship cape ? " said the captain. 

" South-west by south," answered the mate ; " fair 
for the coast, and the wind east by north." 

" That is good," said the captain ; " and after some 
other questions, he turned about to go back to the 
cabin, when somebody stood by him and said, "heave 
the lead, heave the lead." 

Upon this he turned again to his second mate, say- 

L0FC. 



100 SIGJVS BEFORE DEA TH. 

ing, " When did you heave the lead ? What water had 
you ? " 

"About an hour ago," replied the mate, "sixty 
fathoms." 

" Heave again," said the captain. 

" If you please it shall be done," said the mate. 

Accordingly a hand was called, and the lead being 
heaved, they found ground at eleven fathoms. 

This surprised them all, but much more so when at 
the next cast it came up seven fathoms. 

Upon this the captain in a fright bade them put the 
helm a-lee, and about ship ; all hands being ordered 
to back the sails, as is usual in such cases. 

The proper orders being obeyed, the ship stayed 
presently, and came about ; and before the sails filled 
she had but four fathoms and a-half of water under 
her stern ; as soon as she filled and stood off, they had 
seven fathoms again, and at the next cast eleven 
fathoms, and so on to twenty fathoms ; he then stood 
off to seaward all the rest of the watch to get into 
deep water, till daybreak, when, being a clear morn- 
ing, the capes of Virginia and all the coast of America 
were in fair view under their stern, and but a few 
leagues distant. Had they stood on but one cable's 
length farther, as they were going, they would have 
been bump ashore, and certainly have lost their ship, 
if not their lives. — From H, Welby. 



XXXVL 

Lord Middleton and the Laird Bocconi, 

Sir W. Dugdale informed several gentlemen that 
when Major-General Middleton, afterwards created 
Lord, went into the Highlands of Scotland to endea- 
vour to make a party for Charles L, an old gentleman, 
who was credited with the gift of second-sight, met 



APPEARANCE OF HENRY JACOB, lOI 

him and told him that his attempt, though laudable, 
would not be successful ; that they would put the king 
to death, and that several other attempts would be 
made and fail ; that his son would come in, although 
it would be long first, and should at last be restored. 

This nobleman had a great friendship for the Laird 
Bocconi, and they made an agreement, that the first of 
them that died should appear to the other in extremity. 
It happened that Lord Middleton was taken prisoner 
at the battle of Worcester, and sent up to London : 
while he was confined in the Tower, one morning lying 
pensive in his bed, Bocconi appeared to him. Lord 
Middleton asked him if he were dead or alive } He 
replied that he was dead, and had been so many years, 
but that he was come to revive his hopes, for that in 
a very short time, within three days, he should escape : 
this fell out as it was foretold, and he did so in his 
wife's clothes. When he had delivered his message, 
he lightly tripped about the room, and disappeared. 

This account Sir William Dugdale received from 
the Bishop of Edinburgh, who inserted it in his miscel- 
lanies. — Aitbrey, 



XXXVIL 

Appearance of Henry Jacob to His Cousin, Dr. Jacob, 

Henry Jacob was a man of sound learning, of Mer- 
ton College, Oxford, where he died in 1673. About a 
week after his death, Dr. Jacob, lying awake and the 
moon shining brightly, saw his cousin Henry standing 
by his bed in his shirt and with a white cap on. 

At first the Dr. questioned himself as to the reality 
of his being awake, and sitting up to convince himself, 
for awhile looked at the phantom before him with 
dread and astonishment. At last he lay down, and 



102 SIGNS BEFORE DEATH, 

thought to compose himself to sleep again : but curi- 
osity would not permit this, and he again turned him- 
self, when he saw his cousin standing there as before. 
Presently taking courage he rose up as at first, but 
yet he had not sufficient courage to speak to him. 
The spectre stood full half an hour before him, and 
then disappeared. 

Dr. Jacob immediately went down stairs, and while 
relating the story, the cook, who had gone out to fetch 
wood to keep up the fire, returned in great trepidation, 
having seen a spectre standing " like in a shirt " upon 
the wood pile. 

Dr. Jacob related the whole of the incident to 
Aubrey, when at Lord Teynham's in Kent, where he 
was then living as doctor. — Wood's A thence Oxon. 



XXXVIII. 

Anecdote of the Hon. Lady Elizabeth Hastings, 

This lady was very remarkable for her piety and 
charity.* Archbishop Sharpe, Dr. Lucas, Mr. Nelson, 
and Mr. Locke, were her most intimate friends. Mr. 
Nelson was the first called away, and between him and 
this lady there subsisted a sort of religious compact 
for a communication of spirits in the hour of extremity, 
for in her last illness she was constantly anxious and 
in expectation of a messenger of glad tidings as she 
said. 

For some time her friends, household, and servants, 
thought that the severity of the pain she suffered, 
which proceeded from a cancer in her breast, had 
rendered her delirious : but she convinced them at 
last that she was rational, and declared that in a short 

*See her story in The Tatler, No. 42, and where her character is 
drawn under the name of the Aspasia. 



ANECDOTE OF LADY HASTINGS, IO3 

time she would be able to tell the exact hour of her 
departure. 

She called for a manuscript volume of notes of her 
own writing, and showed her brother, the Earl of Hunt- 
ingdon, a memorandum, which plainly mentioned that 
an agreement had been made between her and Mr. 
Nelson that the first who died should return if possible 
and warn the other of the approaching termination of 
life. 

During the whole of her illness two nurses sat up 
with her, relieving each other at intervals for rest in 
the night. On the morning of the sixth day previous 
to her dissolution, about four o'clock, there came visibly 
into the room the form and appearance of a grave 
and venerable looking man : the nurse saw it plainly 
and related how he was dressed, her account accord- 
ing exactly with the general appearance of the late 
Mr. Nelson. Lady Hastings was all the while seem- 
ingly asleep. The phantom, after standing at the side 
of the bed sat down in an elbow chair, which chanced 
to be near. The nurse after beholding it a short time, 
rang a bell for a servant to come to her, but not being 
answered, she took the light in her hand, and went to 
call her up, but before she could return it was gone, 
and Lady Hastings being then awake, rebuked her for 
her silly fears, and said she had now the sweet assur- 
ance of relief from her pain in six days, and in six 
days she died. 

This story is so well attested, that it has passed into 
several theological works, and more than once has 
been mentioned in the pulpit. Mr. Thomas Barnard, 
who wrote her historical character, and published it, 
with an account of her public charities, mentions it 
with some additional circumstances. — From H, Welby. 



104 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

XXXIX. 

A Fortunate Dream, 

A merchant of London, being on the Continent 
upon business, chanced to meet an old school-fellow 
who had turned Roman Catholic and received priest^s 
orders. This meeting naturally recalled their former 
affection and friendship, and they arranged to spend 
the evening together. This was in French Flanders ; 
and the wine being good, the conversation became 
argumentative, and religion the principal topic. This, 
as is too often the case between persons of different 
persuasions, was soon carried beyond the limits of 
good taste on both sides ; and the merchant, who had 
read many polemical books, got the better of the argu- 
ment in favour of the reformed religion of his country, 
which the other had abandoned. The priest seemed 
to be much chagrined, and his countenance visibly 
discovered the emotions of his mind. At length, how- 
ever, appearing to resume his pleasantry and good 
nature, he invited the merchant to breakfast with him 
the next morning, at a convent over which he presided. 

They then parted in the utmost friendship, and the 
merchant soon after went to bed, where soon falling 
asleep, he had a dream of the most frightful nature. 
He thought he entered a den where were ten thousand 
hissing serpents, one of which twisting its train round 
his neck, darted its sting into his bosom. The dread 
of this instantly awoke him, and caused him to start 
from his couch in the greatest agitation. His mind 
the remainder of the night was much too unsettled for 
sleep, and he lay till the sun arose, when he got up 
and walked out into a neighbouring field. Meeting a 
friend and countryman, who was a captain of a com- 
pany of soldiers encamped in the vicinity, and who 
quickly discovered the confusion his mind was in, he 



A FORTUNATE DREAM, I05 

told his dream, and promised to meet him again after 
he had breakfasted at the convent. " Although I pay 
but little regard to dreams in general," said the cap- 
tain, "yet there is something in yours so extremely 
uncommon, that I verily believe it to be ominous of 
some disaster that awaits you this day." ''And," con- 
tinued he, " I would by no means advise you to go to 
the priest ; for you may renew the argument, and he 
will by no means take it well to be overcome in his 
own convent." '' As I have given my promiise," said 
the merchant, " I must go and visit my old school- 
fellow, whose friendship was always sincere, and whose 
company always delighted me." " My dear friend," 
quoth the captain, " if you will go, I wish you well 
back again." These singular words so struck the 
mind of the merchant, that he desired the captain to 
call upon him, as by accident, about half an hour after 
the time appointed, at the convent, which the captain 
promised to do. 

At nine o'clock the merchant knocked at the gate 
of the convent, and was met by the priest, who wel- 
comed him to the place with every expression of 
friendship. Then conducting him up a staircase, they 
came to a door which the priest opened. After some 
ceremonies, they advanced along a gallery, at the end 
of which were two folding doors, which, on the priest's 
ringing a bell, flew open, and presented a fire, and 
two ruffian-looking fellows with instruments of torture 
in their hands. The merchant gave himself up for 
lost, and in vain remonstrated with his false friend, 
who, calling him heretic, and other approbrious names, 
commanded the waiting villians to perform their task 
without farther ceremony. 

At that instant a dreadful alarm was given below, 
which greatly surprising the priest, he went to know 
the cause of it and the ruffians followed him, leaving 
the merchant alone ; who, imagining that some un- 



I06 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

happy sufferers had gained the mastery over their 
tormentors, had courage enough to follow down stairs, 
at the bottom he was, however, agreeably surprised 
to meet the captain with a file of musketeers, who 
instantly took him under their protection and con- 
ducted him safely from the convent to the inn ; the 
captain declaring that he was obliged to have recourse 
to force in order to make his way into the convent. — 
From H, Welby, 



XL. 

Discovery of the Robbers and Murderers of Mr, Stock- 
den.Yitualler in Grubb Street, Cripp legate. 

On the 3rd of December, 1695, about midnight, Mr. 
Stockden was murdered and robbed by four men then 
unknown ; one Maynard was suspected but he got off. 
Soon afterwards, Mr. Stockden appeared to a Mrs. 
Greenwood in a dream, and showed her a house in 
Thames Street, near the George, saying, that one of 
the murderers lived there. She was somewhat alarmed, 
but the next morning, taking with her a friend, she went 
to the house which the vision had indicated, and ask- 
ing for Maynard was told he was from home. Mr. 
Stockden appeared to her again, and then presented 
Maynard's face before her with a flat mole on the side 
of his nose (she had never seen him), and more parti- 
cularly informed her that a wiredrawer should take 
him, and that he should be carried to Newgate in a 
coach. Upon inquiry they found out one of that 
trade, who was his intimate friend, and who for a re- 
ward of ten pounds promised to seize him ; which he 
did as follows. He sent for Maynard to a public 
house, near Hockley-in-the-Hole, where he played at 
cards with him till a constable arrived who appre- 
hended him, and took him before a magistrate, who 



DISCOVERY OF MURDERERS OF MR, STOCKTON. 10/ 

committed him to Newgate, whither he was carried in 
a coach. 

Maynard, while in prison, confessed the fact, and 
impeached his accomplices, who were Marsh, Bevel, 
and Mercer. He said that Marsh was the abettor, 
knowing that Mr. Stockden had money and plate, but 
was not present at the murder, yet he had his share 
of the booty. Marsh, suspecting that Maynard had 
confessed all he knew, left his home, but soon after 
this Mr. Stockden appeared again to Mrs. Greenwood, 
and showed her a house in Old Street (where she had 
not been before), saying that Marsh lodged there. 
Next morning she went with the same friend as before, 
and enquired for Marsh, but he was not at home. He 
was, however, soon taken at another place. 

Soon after this, Mrs. Greenwood dreamed again that 
Mr. Stockden carried her into the Borough prison- 
yard, and showed her Bevel, the third criminal. 
Thither she went, taking with her Mrs. Footman, Mr. 
Stockden's kinswoman and housekeeper : they went 
together to the Marshalsea, and enquiring for Bevel, 
were informed that he had been lately brought thither 
for coining. They desired to see him, and when he 
came down, both declared that he was the man. They 
then applied to a peace officer who procured his re- 
moval to Newgate, where he presently confessed the 
horrid murder; and thus the three principal criminals 
were tried, condemned, and hanged. This account is 
testified by the Bishop of York, &c., and by the curate 
of Cripplegate, who published the narrative. — From 
H. Welby. 



XLI. 

Dream Revelations of Murder. 
A young gentleman in the city of Dublin dreamed 



I08 S/GIVS BEFORE DEATH. 

one night that his sister (who was lately married, and 
lived at a small distance) had been murdered. This 
gave him some uneasiness ; but feeling it v/as only a 
dream he went to sleep again, when the same dream 
was repeated. He then got up, went to another apart- 
ment, and told his dream with great agitation of mind. 
He was laughed at for this, and bid go to bed again. 
He did so, fell asleep, and dreamed the third time that 
his sister was murdered. He then got up, dressed 
himself with all speed, and hastened to his sister's 
house, where he found her cut and mangled in a bar- 
barous manner. She just lived to speak a few words 
to her brother, and then expired, having been murdered 
by her husband. The villain was apprehended, tried, 
and hanged for the crime. 

In the second year of the reign of King James L, 
one Anne Waters carried on certain intrigues with a 
young man in her neighbourhood. Finding their ap- 
pointments interrupted by her husband, they agreed 
to strangle him with a wet napkin, so that the mark 
might not be perceived, which being done, they buried 
him under a dunghill near an adjoining cow house. 
The man was missed by his neighbours, but the woman 
dissembling grief, carried it off so well, that none sus- 
pected her in the least of so much as knowing what 
had become of him, but assisted her enquiries after 
him. After some time, conjectures being almost over, 
one of the inhabitants of the village dreamed that his 
neighbour Waters was strangled and buried under a 
dunghill near the cow-house ; and relating his dream 
to others, it was resolved that the place should be 
searched in the presence of a constable, which being 
done, Water's corpse was found ; and some concurring 
suspicions appearing, the wife was apprehended, and 
confessed the truth. She was burnt, according to the 
law in that case provided. — Bakers Chronicle, p, 614. 



JAMES HADDOCK TO FRANCIS TA VERNER. IO9 



XLII. 
James Haddock to Francis Taverner. 

AT MICHAELMAS, 1 662. 

Francis Taverner, about twenty-five years old, a 
stout fellow, servant to Lord Chichester, Earl of Done- 
gal, at Belfast, was riding late in the night from Hil- 
borough homeward ; near Drum Bridge his horse, 
though of good mettle, suddenly made a stand, and 
he supposing him to be taken with the staggers alighted 
to bleed him in the mouth, and presently remounted. 
As he was setting forward, there seemed to pass by 
him two horsemen, though he could not hear the tread- 
ing of their feet, which amazed him. Presently there 
appeared a third in a white coat just at his elbow, in 
the likeness of James Haddock, formerly an inhabi- 
tant of Malone, where he died near five years before ; 
whereupon Taverner asked him in the name of God, 
who he was ? He replied, " I am James Haddock ; 
and you may call me to mind by this token, that 
about five years ago I and two other friends were at 
your father's house, and you, by your fathers appoint- 
ment, brought us some nuts, so be not afraid," added 
the apparition ; whereupon Taverner, remembering the 
circumstance, courageously asked him why he ap- 
peared rather to him than any other ? He answered, 
because he was a man of more resolution than others ; 
and if he would ride his way with him he would ac- 
quaint him with a business he had to deliver to him ; 
this Taverner refused to do, preferring to go his own 
way, and then rode homewards. 

The night after there appeared again to him the 
likeness of James Haddock, bidding him goto Eleanor 
Welsh, now the wife of one Davis living at Malone, 
but formerly the wife of the said James Haddock, by 



1 10 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 

whom she had an only son. To this son James Haddock 
had by his will given a lease which he held of Lord 
Chichester, of which he had been deprived by Davis 
(who had married his mother). Taverner was to ask 
her if her maiden name was not Eleanor Welsh ; and 
if it were, to tell her that it was the will of her former 
husband, James Haddock, that their son should be 
righted in the lease. But Taverner, partly loath to 
gain the ill-will of his neighbours, and partly thinking 
he should not be credited, long neglected to deliver 
his message, till he had been every night for about a 
month's space haunted with this apparition, in several 
forms more and more terrible. At length he went to 
Davis's wife, and asked her whether her maiden name 
was not Eleanor Welsh t If it was, he had something 
to say to her. She replied there was another Eleanor 
Welsh besides her. Hereupon Taverner returned 
without delivering his message. 

The same night, being fast asleep in his bed, he was 
awakened by something pressing upon him, and saw 
again the apparition of James Haddock, in a white 
coat as at other times, who asked him if he had de- 
livered his message ? He answered that he had ; upon 
which the apparition, looking more pleasantly upon 
him, bade him not be afraid, and then disappeared. 

But some nights after (he not having delivered his 
message) it came again, and appearing in many formi- 
dable shapes, threatened to tear him in pieces if he 
did not do it. This made him leave the house where 
he resided in the mountains and betake himself to the 
town of Belfast, where he sat up all night at one Prince's 
house, and a servant or two of Lord Chichester's who 
were desirous to see or hear the spirit, sat with him. 
About midnight, as they were all by the fireside, they 
noticed Taverner's countenance change, and a trem- 
bling come upon him, and presently espied the appari- 
tion in a room opposite to where Traverner sat, who 



JAMES HADDOCK TO FRANCIS TA VERNER. 1 1 1 

took up the candle and went to it, and resolutely asked 
in the name of God wherefore it haunted him ? It 
replied; because he had not delivered the message, and 
withal threatened to tear him in pieces if he did not 
do it speedily; then changing itself into many prodi- 
gious shapes, it vanished in white, like a spirit ; where- 
upon Francis Taverner became much dejected and 
troubled, and next day went to Lord Chichester's 
house, and with tears in his eyes, related to some of 
the family the sadness of his condition. They told 
the story to his lordship's chaplain, Mr. James South, 
who came to Taverner, and advised him to go at once 
and deliver punctually his message, offering to go along 
with him. But first they went to Dr. Lewis Downes, 
then minister at Belfast, who, upon hearing the rela- 
tion of the whole matter, doubted at first the truth of 
it, attributing it rather to melancholy than any kind 
of reality ; but he was afterwards fully satisfied of its 
authenticity. 

They accordingly went to Davis's house, where the 
woman being desired to come to them, Taverner de- 
livered his message, telling her he could not be quiet 
for the ghost of her former husband, James Haddock, 
who threatened to tear him in pieces if he did not tell 
her she must see John Haddock, her son by him, 
righted in a lease wherein she and Davis, her present 
husband, had wronged him. This done he presently 
found great quietness in his mind, and thanking the 
gentlemen for their company, advice, and assistance, 
departed to his brother's house at Drum Bridge ; 
where, about two nights after, the apparition came to 
him again, and asked him if he had delivered the 
message } He answered, he had done so fully. It 
replied that he must deliver the message to the exe- 
cutors also, that the business might be perfected. At 
this meeting Taverner asked the spirit if Davis would 
do him any injury } To which it answered at first some- 



1 1 2 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

what doubtfully, but at length threatened Davis if he 
attempted any thing to the injury of Taverner, and 
then disappeared. 

The day following, Dr. Jeremiah Taylor, Bishop of 
Down, Connor, and Dromore, was to hold a court at 
Dromore, and commanded me who was then secretary 
to him to write for Taverner to meet him there, which 
he did ; and there, in the presence of many, he examined 
Taverner strictly in this strange scene of Providence, as 
my lord bishop styled it. By the account given him 
both by Taverner and others who knew Taverner and 
much of the former particulars, his lordship was satisfied 
that the apparition was true and real, but said no more 
there to him, because at Hilborough, three miles from 
thence, on his way home his lordship was informed 
that Lady Conway and other persons of quality w^ere 
arrived purposely to hear his lordship examine the 
matter. Taverner went with us to Hilborough, and 
there, to satisfy the curiosity of the company, after 
asking many things, his lordship advised him to ask 
these questions the next time the spirit appeared :- — 
Whence are you "i Are you a good or bad spirit .^ 
Where is your abode } What station do you hold 1 
How are you settled in the other world } And what 
is the reason that you appear for the relief of your son 
in so small a matter, when so many widows and orphans 
are oppressed in the world, being defrauded of greater 
matters, and none of their relations appear as you do 
to right them } 

That night Taverner was sent for to Lisburn, to 
Lord Conway's, three miles from Hilborough, where 
he was again strictly examined in the presence of 
many good men and women of the aforesaid matter, 
and was ordered to stay at my Lord Conway's all 
night. About nine or ten o'clock at night, standing 
by the fireside with his brother and many others, his 
countenance changed and he fell into a trembling, the 



JAMES HADDOCK TO FRANCIS TA VERNE R. 113 

usual prognostics of the apparition ; and being loath 
to make any disturbance in his lordship's house, he 
and his brother w^nt out into the court where he saw 
the spirit coming over the wall, which approaching 
nearer asked him if he had delivered his message to 
the executors also ? He replied he had, and wondered 
it should still haunt him. It replied he need not fear ; 
for it would do him no hurt, nor trouble him any more 
but the executor, if he did not see the boy righted. 
Here his brother put him in mind to ask the spirit 
what the bishop bid him, which he did presently ; it 
gave him no answer, but crawled on its hands and feet 
to the wall again and then disappeared. 

Note i. That Pierce, at whose house and in whose 
presence the apparition was, being asked whether he 
saw the spirit, said he did not, but thought at that time 
he had a mist all over his eyes. 2. What was then 
spoken to Taverner was in so low and hollow a voice 
that they could not understand what it said. 3. At 
Pierce's house it stood just in the entry of a door, and 
as a maid passed by to go in at the door, Taverner 
saw it go aside and give way to the maid, though she 
saw it not. 4. That the lease was hereupon disposed 
of to the boy's use. 5. The spirit at the last, appearing 
at my Lord Conway's house, revealed somewhat to 
Taverner which he would not discover to any of us 
that asked him. 

This Taverner, with all the persons and places men- 
tioned in the story, I knew very well ; and many wise 
and good men believed it, especially the Bishop and 
the Dean of Connor, Dr. Rust. 

Witness, 

Your humble servant, 

THOMAS ALCOCK. 



« 



1 1 4 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

XLIII. 

Captain Henry Bell and Luther's Table Talk, 

Captain Henry Bell, in his narrative prefixed to Lu- 
ther's Table Talk, printed in England in 1652, after 
having mentioned the mystery and providence of the 
discovery of it under ground in Germany, where it had 
lain hid fifty-two years, relates the following admonition 
relating to the translation of it into English. 

Capsar Van Spar, a German gentleman having re- 
covered the copy from the worms, desired Captain 
Bell, with whom he was well acquainted while he was 
agent for King James I. on the continent, to translate 
it into English and publish it in London. But Captain 
Bell was for some time prevented from prosecuting 
that design. 

About six weeks after he had received the German 
copy, shortly after retiring to rest one night, and being 
in full health at the time, there appeared to him at the 
side of the bed, an old man clothed in a light-coloured 
habit, of reverend aspect, having a broad and w^hite 
beard which hung as low as his girdle, who smiling at 
him said in a gentle manner of rebuke, '' will you not 
take time to translate that book which is sent to you 
out of Germany } if you do not, I will shortly hereafter 
provide you both time and place to do it," and then 
instantly disappeared. 

Captain Bell did not pay much attention to the 
matter afterwards. Time wore it off his memory, and 
he paid no more regard to what he had seen and heard, 
than if it had been a mere dream. 

However, he had soon reason to recollect the old 
man's words, for soon after being at his lodgings in 
King Street, Westminster, at dinner with his wife, two 
messengers came from the Council Board with a 
warrant to carry him to the Gate-house, there to be 



LAD Y DA VIES'S PROGNOSTICS. 1 1 5 

confined till further orders from the Lords of the Privy 
Council. Upon this warrant he was detained ten 
years a close prisoner, whereof he spent five in the 
translation of the afore-mentioned work. 

This narrative is extracted from the preface of Lu- 
ther's Table Talk, printed in 1652, and from what 
Mr. Aubrey observes upon this story, which he briefly 
relates, it appears that whatever was the pretended 
cause of his confinement, the true reason of the Cap- 
tain's commitment was because he had been urgent 
with the Lord Treasurer for his arrears, which amounted 
to a great sum. and he being unwilling to pay, to be 
freed from his clamours hit upon the scheme of holding 
him in prison. 

XLIV. 

Lady Daviess Prognostics, 

Sir John Davies was a very able and learned law- 
yer ; and the author of an abridgment of Sir Edward 
Coke's report in French Law, which was translated 
into English after his decease, and published in 165 1. 

Sir John's lady was a very singular character, and 
dealt much in prophecies. An account of her predic- 
tions was published in 1649 under the title of " Strange 
and Wonderful Prophecies/' She was reported to 
have foretold the death of her husband. Anthony 
Wood, speaking of the time of Sir John Davies's 
death, says, ''it was then commonly rumoured that 
his prophetical lady had foretold his death in some 
manner on the Sunday going before. For w^hile she 
sat at dinnerT^y him, she suddenly burst out into tears ; 
whereupon he asking her what the matter w^as, she 
answered, 'husband, these are your funeral tears ;' to 
which he made reply, ' pray, therefore, spare your tears 
now, and I will be content that you shall laugh when 
I am dead/ " 



1 1 6 SIGNS BEFORE BE A Tff, 

Lady Davies also foretold the death of Archbishop 
Laud ; but appears to have been mistaken as to the 
time. She had before spoken something unlucky of 
the Duke of Buckingham, importing that he should 
not live till the end of August, which raised her to the 
reputation of a cunning woman amongst the ignorant 
people ; and now she prophesied of the new Arch- 
bishop that he should live but few days after the 5th 
of November ; for which, and other prophecies of a 
more mischievous nature, she was brought into the 
Court of High Commission. Much pains were taken 
by the court to dispossess her of this spirit ; but all 
was unavailing, till Lamb, then Duke of the Arches, 
shot her through and through with an arrow borrowed 
from her own quiver. 

This was certainly the most sensible way of ani- 
madverting on the poor lady's infirmities ; but to this 
course unfortunately her judges did not confine them- 
selves. She was prosecuted in the High Commission 
Court, particularly for what was called '' an enthusias- 
tical petition to King Charles, '' and was treated with 
great rigour and cruelty. She was fined three thousand 
pounds, and closely imprisoned three years in the 
Gatehouse, Westminster. She is also said to have 
been confined several years in Bethlem Hospital and 
in the Tower of London ; and she complained that 
during part of her imprisonment she was not allowed 
the use of a Bible, nor permitted to have the attend- 
ance of a female servant. — Biog. Brit., voL IV. 



XLV. 

Lord Mohun to his Mistress, 

Lord Mohun was a dissolute young rake, and lived 
in the days of Charles L According to the custom 
of that time, his sense of honour led him to resent 



OMEN TO MRS. STEPHENS, 11/ 

in a serious manner an affront which had produced a 
quarrel between him and a person of the first quality, 
though a foreigner, in this kingdom. By appointment 
they met in Chelsea Fields near a place called Ebery- 
farm, and Lord Mohun was killed, but not without 
suspicions of foul play. 

At the time, Lord Mohun kept company with a 
lady whom he supported in handsome apartments in 
James Street, Covent Garden. Lord Mohun was 
killed about ten o'clock in the morning, and at that 
hour his mistress, being in bed, saw him come to her 
bedside, draw the curtains, look upon her, and go 
away. She called after him, but received no answer; 
she then rung for her maid, asked her for Lord Mohun, 
but the woman replied that she had not seen him, 
and the key of the door was in her pocket. 

About the time, Mr. Brown, brother-in-law to Lord 
Coningsby, discovered his being murdered to several 
of his friends. 

Glanvil relates that his apparition was also seen by 
his sister and her maid, then dwelling in Fleet Street, 
at the hour and minute he was killed in Herefordshire. 
This happened in 1692. — Aubrey s Miscellanies. 



XLVL 

Omen to Mrs. Stephens^ of Spitalfields. 

About the year 161 1, there lived in Spitalfields one 
Mrs. Anne Stephens, a person at that time well known 
and respected for her dealings with the mercers on 
Ludgate Hill. While seated one evening in her house 
alone musing upon business, she happened by acci- 
dent to look behind her, when, to her great surprise, 
she saw as it were a corpse lying extended upon the 
floor, as a dead body should be, except that the foot 
of one leg was fixed on the ground. She looked at it 



1 1 8 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

for some time, but by degrees withdrew her eyes from 
so unpleasing an object. However, a strange curiosity 
soon overcame her fears, when she ventured a second 
time to look that way and saw it for a considerable 
time longer, fixed as before. She again turned from 
the melancholy spectacle, and, gaining courage after 
a little reflection, got up with a design to satisfy her- 
self of the reality of the vision, by going nearer to it 
but, lo ! it was not there. 

This circumstance proved an admonition to her ; for 
taking it as a warning of her approaching dissolution, 
she from that hour began to settle her wordly affairs, 
and had just time to see them arranged when she was 
taken ill of a pleurisy of which she died in seven days. 
- — From H, Welby, 

XLVII. 

A Member of Parliament warited of Arrest. 

Dr. Beaumont relates that in his time, a member of 
parliament, anticipating that upon the recess of the 
house, which was not far off, he should be at liberty, 
withdrew himself and neglected his public duties. 
The House resenting it, a vote was passed ordering 
the secretary of state to prosecute him at law. This 
obliged him to resolve to leave the kingdom, and in 
the meantime to conceal himself — government having 
issued a proclamation for apprehending him, with a 
reward to the person who should take him. 

In order to conceal himself more effectually he left 
his lodging where he had been hid for some time and 
removed to Barnet on the borders of Hertfordshire, 
intending, as soon as he had settled some family affairs 
to go into Scotland. Before he quitted, he was obliged 
to come to London to sign some writings to secure an 
estate, which it was feared might be seized. 

The night before he had appointed to come to 



A WARNING OF ARREST. II9 

London, he dreamed that he was in his lodgings in 
London where he had been concealed as above re- 
lated ; and in his dream he saw two men come to the 
door, who stated they were messengers, and produced 
a warrant from the secretary of state to apprehend 
him, and that accordingly they seized him. 

The vision surprised and awaked him, and he roused 

Mr. D , and told him the dream and his surprise 

about it. Mr. D , seeing it was but a dream, 

advised him to go to sleep, which he did. 

As soon as he was asleep again he was disturbed 
by a repetition of the dream exactly as before, and 
he again roused his brother; this disturbed them both 
very much, but being weary they both went to sleep 
again, and dreamed no more. He saw the men that 
apprehended him, their countenances, clothes, weapons, 
&c., and described them in the morning to his brother 
D , with all the particulars. 

However the journey to London being as he thought 
urgent, he got ready in the morning to set off, resolving 
to stay but one day, and then set forward for Scotland. 
Accordingly, he went for London in the morning, and 
that he might not be known he walked by private 
roads over Enfield Chace to Southgate, Hornsey, &c, 

During his journey his mind was heavy and oppres- 
sed, and he frequently said to his brother, who walked 
with him, that he was certain he was going to London 
to be surprised, and so strong was the foreboding 
impression upon his mind that he once stopt at Horn- 
sey and endeavoured to get a lodging, intending to 
send his brother to London to see if anything had 
happened there and to give him notice. 

He had just secured a convenient lodging, when he 
saw a gentleman standing at the next door, whom he 
knew very well, but to whom he durst not venture to 
speak on that occasion ; and finding on enquiry that 



I ^O SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 

he dwelt there, he concluded that was not a safe place 
for him, and resolved to go forward. 

The impression upon his mind continuing, he stopt 
again at Islington and endeavoured to get a lodging 
there, but could not ; at length his brother brought 
him word he could not get a lodging except where 
it was too public. Well, said he, then I must go to 
London; and accordingly he went, and the next 
morning was taken by the messengers in the manner 
as he had been told in his dream, by the same two 
men, whose faces he had seen, and with the same 
clothes on and weapons exactly as he had described. 
— From H. Welby, 



XLVIII. 

Apparition seen by Richard BoveU 

CONDENSED FKOM HIS OWN NARRATIVE. 

About the year 1667 I was staying with some per- 
sons of rank in the house of a nobleman in the west 
country, which had formerly been a nunnery. I had 
often heard the servants and others that inhabited or 
lodged there speak much of the noises and apparitions 
that frequently disturbed the house, but had at that 
time no apprehensions myself; for the house being 
full of strangers, the nobleman's steward, Mr. C, 
occupied with me a fine wainscot room, called my 
lady's chamber. We went to our lodging pretty early ; 
and having a good fire in the room, we spent some 
time in reading, in which he much delighted ; then, 
having got into bed and put out the candles, we 
observed the moon to be shining so brightly that a 
wager was laid between us that it was possible to read 
hand writting by its light as we lay upon the bed. 

We had scarce finished our conversation upon that 



APPARITION SEEN BY RICHARD BOVET. 121 

affair, when I saw (my face being towards the door, 
which was locked) entering the room, five appearances 
of very fine and lovely women ; they were of excellent 
stature, their dresses seemed very beautiful, were 
covered with light gauze, and their skirts trailed largely 
upon the floor. They entered in single file, and walked 
round the room, till the foremost came and stood by 
that side of the bed where I lay with my left hand 
over the side of the bed ; for my head rested on that 
arm, and I determined not to alter the posture in 
which I was ; she struck me upon that hand with a 
blow that felt very soft, but I could never remember 
whether it was cold or hot. I demanded in the name 
of the blessed Trinity, what business they had there, 
but received no answer. Then I spoke to Mr. C — 
" Sir, do you see what fair guests we have come to 
visit us } " whereupon they all disappeared. I found 
him in some kind of agony, and was forced to grasp 
him by the arm and shake him before I could obtain 
speech of him ; then he told me he had seen the fair 
guests I spoke of, and had heard me speak to them ; 
but he was not able to speak sooner to me, being 
extremely affrighted at the sight of a dreadful mons- 
ter, which, assuming a shape betwixt that of a lion and 
a bear, attempted to come upon the bed's foot. I 
told him I thanked God nothing so frightful had pre- 
sented itself to me ; but I hoped (through His assist- 
tance) to be able to meet any apparition that might 
present itself, hov/ever formidable. It was a long time 
before I could compose him to sleep; and though he 
had many disturbances in his own room and under- 
stood of others in the house, yet he acknowledged he 
had never before been so terrified during many years' 
abode there. 

The next day at dinner he showed to many persons 
of quality the mark that had been occasioned by the 
grip I was forced to give him to get him to speak, and 



122 SIGNS BEFORE DEATH. 

related all the passages very exactly ; after which he 
protested that he would never more lie in that room ; 
upon which I set up a resolution to lodge in it again, 
hoping that something of the reason of those troubles 
might by that means be imparted to me. 

The next night, therefore, I ordered a Bible and 
another book to be laid in the room, and resolved to 
spend my time by the fire in reading and contempla- 
tion till I found myself inclined to sleep ; and accord- 
ingly, having taken leave of the family at the usual 
hour, I addressed myself to what I proposed, not going 
into bed till past one in the morning. Shortly after I 
was in bed, I heard something walk about the room 
like a woman in a dress trailing about the floor : it 
made a mighty rustling noise but I could see nothing, 
though it was nearly as light as the night before. It 
passed by the foot of the bed, and a little opened the 
curtains, and thence went to a closet door on that side 
through which it found admittance although it was 
close locked ; there it seemed to groan, and presently 
seemed to move a great chair with its foot, sit down 
in it and turn over the leaves of a large folio, making 
the usual noise that accompanies the turning over of 
heavy leaves. It continued in that posture, sometimes 
groaning, sometimes dragging the chair and clattering 
the book, till it was near day. Afterwards I lodged 
several times in this room, but was not again disturbed. 

This I can attest to be a true account of what passed 
in that room the two nights spoken of ; and though 
Mr. C. be lately dead, who was a very ingenious man, 
and affirmed the first part unto many with whom he 
was acquainted, I can appeal to the knowledge of 
those who have been inhabitants or lodgers in the said 
house for what remains to justify the credibility of 
the rest. — Fro^n H, Welby, 



APPEARANCE OF THE RADIANT BOY. 1 23 

XLIX. 

Appearance of the Radiant Boy to the late Marquis of 

Londojiderry, 

About twenty-five years since the late Lord 
Londonderry was for the first time on a visit to a 
gentleman in the north of Ireland. The mansion was 
such an one as spectres are reputed to inhabit ; it was 
associated with many recollections of historic times ; 
and the sombre character of its architecture and the 
wildness of the surrounding scenery were calculated to 
impress the soul with melancholy. 

The apartment also which was appropriated to 
Lord Londonderry was especially calculated to foster 
such a tone of feeling from its antique appointments, 
from the dark and richly carved panels of its wainscot, 
from its yawning width andheight of chimney, looking 
like the open entrance to a tomb, of which the sur- 
rounding ornaments appeared to form the sculptures 
and entablature, from the portraits of grim men and 
severe women arrayed in orderly procession along the 
walls, scowling a contemptuous enmity against the 
degenerate invaders of their gloomy bowers and vener- 
able halls, and from the vast, dusky, ponderous, and 
complicated draperies that concealed the windows, 
and hung with the gloomy grandeur of funeral trap- 
pings about the hearse-like piece of furniture that was 
destined for his bed. 

Lord Londonderry on entering his apartment 
might have received some painful depressions and 
misgivings when he found himself in the midst of such 
a world of melancholy images ; he might have felt 
himself more than usually inclined to submit to the 
influences of superstition. 

Lord Londonderry examined his chamber, he made 
himself acquainted with the forms and faces of the 



1 24 SIGNS BEFORE BE A TB, 

ancient possessors of the mansion as they sat upright 
in their ebony frames to receive his salutation ; and 
then, after dismissing his valet, he retired to bed. His 
candles had not been long extinguished when he per- 
ceived a light gleaming on the draperies of the lofty 
canopy over his head. Conscious that there was no 
fire in the grate, that the curtains were closed, and 
that the chamber had been in perfect darkness but a 
few moments before, he supposed that some one must 
have accidentally entered his apartment ; and turning 
hastily round to the side from which the light pro- 
ceeded, saw, to his infinite astonishment, not the form 
of any human visitor, but the figure of a fair boy, who 
seemed to be garmented in rays of mild and tempered 
glory, which beamed palely from his slender form like 
the faint light of the declining moon, and rendered the 
objects which were nearest to him dimly and indis- 
tinctly visible. The spirit stood at some short distance 
from the side of the bed. Certain that his own faculties 
were not deceiving him, but suspecting he might be 
imposed on by the ingenuity of some of the numerous 
guests who were then visiting in the same house, Lord 
Londonderry proceeded towards the figure, but as he 
approached it retreated, as he slowly advanced the 
form with equal paces slowly retired, until it entered 
the gloomy arch of the capacious chimney, through 
which it appeared to sink into the earth. Lord Lon- 
donderry retired to his bed, but not to rest ; his mind 
was disturbed by the consideration of the extraor- 
dinary event which had occurred to him. Was it 
real } Was it the work of the imagination 1 Was it 
the result of imposture } It was all incomprehensible. 
He resolved in the morning not to mention the ap- 
pearance till he should have well observed the manners 
and countenances of the family ; he was conscious that 
if any deception had been practised its authors would 
be too delighted with their success to conceal the vanity 



APPEARANCE OF THE RADIANT BOY. 12$ 

of their triumph. When the guests assembled at the 
breakfast table, the eye of Lord Londonderry searched 
in vain for those latent smiles — those conscious looks 
— that silent communication between the parties, by 
which the authors and abettors of such domestic 
conspiracies are generally betrayed. Everything ap- 
parently proceeded in its ordinary course ; the con- 
versation flowed rapidly along from the subjects 
afforded by the moment without any of the constraint 
which marks a party intent upon some secret and more 
interesting argument and endeavouring to afford an 
opportunity for its introduction. 

At last the hero of the tale found himself compelled 
to mention the occurrence of the night, prefacing it 
by such remarks as that it was most extraordinary, 
he feare^ that he should not be credited, and then 
after all due preparation the story was related. Those 
among his auditors who, like himself, were strangers 
and visitors in the house, were certain that some de- 
lusion must have been practised ; the family alone 
seemed perfectly composed and calm. At last, the 
gentleman whom Lord Londonderry was visiting in- 
terrupted their various surmises on the subject by 
saying — '^ The circumstance which you have just re- 
counted must naturally appear most extraordinary to 
those who have not long been inmates of my dwelling, 
and not conversant with the legends connected with 
my family ; to those who are, the event which has 
happened will only serve as the corroboration of an 
old tradition that long has been related of the apart- 
ment in which you slept. You have seen the Radiant 
Boy — be content — it is an omen of prosperous for- 
tunes. I would rather that this circumstance should 
no more be mentioned.'' — Fro?n H, Welby, 



126 SIGNS BEFORE DEATH. 

L. 

Confessioit of John BeawnonL 

Akin in authenticity and perspicuity to Glanvil's 
" Sadducissimus Triumphatus," quoted already, is the 
celebrated " Treatise on Spirits, Apparitions, &c." by 
John Beaumont, styled the Platonic Philosopher. 
This work, like that of Glanvil, is now become very 
scarce. The edition printed in 1705 has a frontispiece 
of evil and good genii, and an original representation 
of Jews going out in the moonshine to learn their for- 
tune. Beaumont was a man of acute reasoning 
powers, and indefatigable research, as his narrative 
and inferences clearly show. Indeed, every page of 
his " Treatise'' displays profound historical knowledge. 
His style is clear, argumentative, and unencumbered ; 
and as specimens of these recommendations we have 
occasionally introduced a few of his most interesting 
narratives. 

His Confession is at once curious and important, as 
he simply states what actually occurred to him, with- 
out attempting to expand or account for anything. 

''I would not/' he says, "for the whole world un- 
dergo what I have undergone from spirits coming 
twice to me. Their first coming was most dreadful to 
me, the thing being then altogether new, and conse- 
quently more surprising ; though at the first coming 
they did not appear to me, but only called me at my 
chamber windows, rang bells, sang to me, and played 
music, &c. ; but the last coming was terrible, for 
when they came, being only five in number, two 
women and three men (though afterwards there came 
hundreds), they told me they would kill me if I told 
any person in the house of their being there, which 
put me in some consternation ; and I made a servant 
sit up with me four nights in my chamber before a 



CONFESSION OF JOHN BEA UMONT. 1 2/ 

fire — it being in the Christmas hoHdays — telling no 
person that they were there. One of these spirits, in 
woman's dress, lay down upon the bed by me every 
night, and told me if I slept the spirits would kill me, 
which kept me waking for three nights. In the mean- 
time, a near relation of mine went (though unknown 
to me) to a physician of my acquaintance, desiring him 
to prescribe me somewhat for sleeping, which he did ; 
and a sleeping potion was brought me, but I set it by, 
being very desirous to sleep without it. 

"The fourth night I could hardly forbear sleeping, 
but the spirit, lying on the bed by me, told me again 
I should be killed if I slept, where upon I rose and 
sate by the fire-side, and in a while returned to my 
bed ; and so I did a third time, but was still threatened 
as before ; whereupon I grew impatient, and asked 
the spirits what they would have, — told them I had 
done the part of a Christian in humbling myself to 
God, and feared them not ; and rising from my bed, 
took a cane, and knocked at the ceiling of my chamber, 
a near relation of mine lying then over me, who pre- 
sently rose and came down to me about two o'clock 
in the morning, to whom I said, ' You have seen me 
disturbed these four days past, and that I have not 
slept ; the occasion of it was that five spirits, which 
are now in the room with me, have threatened to kill 
me if I told any person of their being there, or if I 
slept, but I am not able to forbear sleeping longer, 
and acquaint you with it, and now stand in defiance 
of them.' And thus I exerted myself about them ; 
and notwithstanding their continued threats I slept 
very well the next night, and continued so to do, 
though they continued with me above three months, 
day and night." 



1 28 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

LI. 

Robert Lindsay^ Esq^^ of Edinburgh. 

Another strange record is the following, com- 
municated by David Laing, Esq., of Edinburgh, to Dr. 
Hibbert, and inserted by that gentleman in his erudite 
work, entitled, " The Philosophy of Apparitions/' 

" Robert Lindsay, grandchild or great grandchild 
to Sir David Lindsay of the Mouth, Lyon-King-at- 
Arms, &c., being very intimate with A. P., they bar- 
gained, anno i67i,that whoever died first should give 
account of his condition, if possible. It happened 
that he died about the end of 1675, while A. P. was 
at Paris ; and the very night of his death A. P. 
dreamed that he was at Edinburgh, where Lindsay 
attacked him thus : — ' Aechie/ said he, * perhaps ye 
heard Pm dead ? ' ' No, Robin.' ' Ay, but they bury 
my body in the Greyfriars. I am alive, though in a 
place whereof the pleasures cannot be expressed in 
Scotch, Greek, or Latin. I have come with a well- 
sailing small ship to Leith Road to carry you thither.' 
' Robin, ril go w^ith you, but wait till I go to Fife 
and East Lothian, and take leave of my parents.' 
* Archie, I have but the allowance of one tide. Fare- 
well, I'll come for you at another time.' Since which 
time A. P. never slept a night without dreaming that 
Lindsay told him he was alive ; and having a 
dangerous sickness, anno 1694, he was told by Robin 
that he was delayed for a time, and that it was 
properly his task to carry him off, but was unable to 
tell when." 

LII. 

Apparition seen by Mr, B, L, ^ in York Cathedral 
A few years since, Mr. B. L. accompanied some 

* In the original MS. of this story, the name was given at length ; 



APPARITION IN YORK CATHEDRAL. 1 29 

friends on a visit to York Cathedral. The party was 
numerous, and amongst them were a gentleman and 
his two daughters. Mr. B. L. was with the elder of 
these ladies exploring the curiosities of the building 
at some distance from the rest of their companions. 
On turning from the monument to w^hich their 
attention had been directed, an officer in a naval 
uniform was observed advancing towards them. It 
was rather an unusual circumstance to encounter a 
person thus accoutred in a place so far distant from 
the sea, and of so unmilitary a character. Mr. B. L. 
was about to mention the subject to his companion, 
when, on turning his eyes towards her and pointing 
out the approaching stranger to her notice, he saw an 
immediate paleness spread over her face, and her 
countenance became agitated by the powerful and 
contending emotions which were suddenly excited by 
his presence. As the stranger drew nearer, and his 
figure and features gradually became more distinctly 
visible through the evening gloom and the dim re- 
ligious light of the cathedral, the lady's distress was 
evidently increased. 

Alarmed by the agitation which he witnessed, but 
wholly ignorant of the cause, and supposing her to be 
suffering from some violent and sudden indisposition, 
Mr. B. L. called to entreat the assistance of her sister. 
The figure in the naval uniform was now immediately 
before them : the eyes of the lady were fixed upon it 
with a gaze of silent and motionless surprise, and a 
painful intensity of feeling; her lips were colourless 
and apart^ and her breath passed heavily from her full 
and overburthened heart. The form was close upon 
them — it approached her side — it paused for an 

but while the sheets were passing through the press, a friend of the 
party stated to the original publisher that making public the names 
would distress the feelings of more than one individual ; for that 
only they were withheld. 



1 3^ SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

instant — when, as quick as thought, a low and scarcely 
audible voice whispered in her ear, " There is a future 
state ! " and the figure moved onward through the re- 
tiring aisle of the minster. 

The father of the lady now arrived to the assistance 
of his daughter, and Mr. B. L. consigning her to his 
protection, hastened in pursuit of the mysterious 
visitor. He searched on every side ; no such form 
was to be seen in the long perspective of the path 
by which the ill-omened stranger had departed. He 
listened with the most earnest attentiveness, but no 
sound of retreating footsteps was to be heard on the 
echoing pavement of the cathedral. 

Baffled in his attempt to discover the object whose 
presence had thus disturbed the tranquillity of the 
time, Mr. B. L. re-sought his friends. The lady en- 
treated the party to continue their examination of the 
building, and to leave her again to the protection of 
her former companion. The request was granted; 
and no sooner had she thus possessed herself of an 
opportunity of confidential communication than she 
implored him, with a quick and agitated voice, to 
conceal for a little while the occurrence of which he 
had been a witness. " We shall never be believed ; 
besides, it were right that my poor dear father should 
be gradually prepared for the misery that he is dis- 
tined to undergo. I have seen the spirit, and I have 
heard the voice, of a brother who exists no longer; he 
has perished at sea. We had agreed that the one 
who died the first should re-appear to the survivor, if 
it were possible, to clear up or to confirm the religious 
doubts which existed in both our minds." 

In due time the account of the event arrived to 
verify the spiritual intimation ; the brother was indeed 
no more. His death had happened on the very day 
and hour in which his form was seen by Mr. B. L. and 
his companion in the north aisle of York Cathedral. 



AN A WFUL ADMONITION, 1 3 1 

The preceding narrative exhibits no symptoms of 
a hurried or heated imagination, but on the contrary, 
is at once cool, collected, and circumstantially perspi- 
cuous, so as to set the question of probability almost 
entirely at rest. — From H, Welby, 



LIIL 

An A wftd A dmonition. 

Aubrey in his Miscellanies, narrates the following 
awful admonition of a departed friend, to a surviving 
friend : — 

Two ladies of fortune, both not being long since 
deceased, were intimate acquaintances, and loved each 
other sincerely. It so fell out that one of them fell 
sick of the small-pox, and desired mightily to see the 
other, who would not come fearing the catching the 
distemper; the afflicted lady at last died of them. 
She had not been buried long before she appeared at 
the other s house in the dress of a widow, and asked 
for her friend who was then at cards ; she sent down 
her woman to know her business, the answer was that 
she must impart it to none but her lady, who, after 
she had received this message bid her woman intro- 
duce her into a room, and desire her to stay till the 
game was done, and she would then wait on her. 
The game being finished, she went down stairs to the 
apparition, to know her business, " Madam" (said the 
ghost, turning up her veil, and her face appearing full 
of the small-pox), "you know very well that you and 
I loved entirely. Though I took it very ill of you 
that you was not so kind as to come and see me, yet 
I could not rest till I had seen you. Believe me, my 
dear, I am not come to frighten you ; but only out of 
regard to your eternal happiness, to forewarn you of 



1 3 2 SIG.VS BEFORE DEA TR. 

your approaching end, which I am sorry to say will be 
very miserable, if you do not prepare for it ; you have 
led a very unthinking giddy life many years. I can- 
not stay, I am going ; my time is just spent ; prepare 
to die ; and remember this, that when you make the 
thirtieth at a ball, you have but a few days to live." 
She then vanished. To conclude, she was at a ball 
where she made the thirtieth in number; and was 
afterwards asked by the brother of the deceased, 
whether his sister did appear to her as was reported ; 
she made him no answer, but fell a weeping, and died 
in a little time after. 



LIV. 

Apparitions recorded in BoswelVs Life of Johnson. 

Talking of ghosts, Dr. Johnson said he knew one 
friend, who was an honest man, who had told him he 
had seen a ghost ; old Mr. Edward Cave, the printer, 
at St. John's Gate. He said Mr. Cave did not like to 
talk of it, and seemed to be in great horror whenever 
it was mentioned. Boswell said, "Pray, sir, what did 
he say was the appearance.'' Johnson — " Why, sir, 
something of a shadowy being. Goldsmith told us 
he was assured by his brother that he also had seen 
one. General Oglethorpe told us that Pendergast, 
an officer in the Duke of Marlborough's army, had 
mentioned to many of his friends that he should die 
on a particular day ; that upon that day a battle took 
place with the French ; that, after it was over and 
Pendergast was still alive, his brother officers, while 
they were yet in the field, jestingly asked him where 
was his prophecy now } Pendergast gravely answer- 
ed, ^ I shall die, notwithstanding what you see.' Soon 
afterwards there came a shot from a French battery, 
to which the orders for a cessation of arms had not 



DR. JOHNSON ON APPARITIONS. 133 

reached, and he was killed upon the spot. Colonel 
Cecil, who took possession of his effects, found in his 
pocket-book the following solemn entry : — (here the 
date.) ' Dreamt or was told by an apparition Sir John 
Friend meets me — (here the very day on which he 
was killed was mentioned.) Pendergast had been 
connected with Sir John Friend, who was executed 
for high treason. General Oglethorpe said he was 
with Colonel Cecil when Pope came and inquired into 
the truth of his story, which made a great noise at the 
time, and was then confirmed by the colonel. Boswell 
— Was there not a story of the ghost of Parson Ford 
having appeared 1 Johnson — Sir, it was believed. A 
waiter at the Hummums, in which Ford died, had 
been absent for some time, and returned, not knowing 
Ford was dead ; going down to the cellar, according 
to the story, he met him ; going down again, he met 
him a second time. When he came up he asked 
some of the people of the house what Ford could be 
doing there } They told him Ford was dead. The 
waiter took a fever in which he lay some time ; when 
he recovered, he said he had a message to deliver to 
some women from Ford, but he was not to tell what, 
or to whom. He walked out ; he was followed, but 
somewhere about St. Paul's they lost him ; he came 
back, and said he had delivered the message, and the 
women exclaimed, 'Then we are all undone!' Dr. 
Pellet, who was not a credulous man, inquired into the 
truth of this story, and said the evidence was irresist- 
ible. My wife went to the Hummums (it is a place 
where people get themselves cupped) ; I believe she 
went with the intention to hear about this story of 
Ford. At first they were unwilling to tell her; but, 
after they had talked to her, she came away satisfied 
that it was true. To be sure the man had a fever, and 
this vision may have been the beginning of it ; but if 
the message to the women and their behaviour upon 



1 34 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 

hearing it were true, as related, there was something 
supernatural ; that rests upon his word, and there it 



remains." 



LV. 

Ann Taylor of Tiverton. 

The case of this unfortunate girl excited consider- 
able interest throughout the whole of the west of Eng- 
land in the year 1814. She was the daughter of a 
respectable yeoman, living in the parish of Tiverton ; 
and being ill, she lay six days in a state of insensibi- 
lity, and to all appearance dead, doubtless one of those 
cases of suspended animation of which there have 
been many instances. Whilst lying in this state she 
had a dream, which the family called a trance, the 
printed account of which they widely circulated. Her 
request on awaking from her trance, and the extra- 
ordinary circumstances which happened after her de- 
cease, are thus related by her father : — 

" When she recovered from her stupor, she requested 
some one would write down all she had to unfold, and 
I charged the person who did it, as she might be put 
on her oath, not to add or diminish a word, nor to ask 
her a question, which I know was duly attended to. 
Then she earnestly requested all might be printed, and 
desired I would get it done ; I endeavoured to evade 
it by putting som.e papers in the room, merely to satisfy 
her mind, but she soon discovered it was not the thing ; 
she then said if it were not printed my sins would 
never be forgiven; as she continued urging me to it, 
I went for that purpose the next day, and even went 
so far as the printer's door, but was ashamed to go in, 
as I was convinced the world would ridicule it. I re- 
turned to my home, and she renewing her inquiries, I 
told her it was not yet done, but that it should ; she 



APPARITION SEEN B Y LAD V PENNYMAN. 1 3 5 

replied, ' but too late' The next day, notwithstanding 
it was Sunday, I was obliged to go and request that 
some might be printed early the following morning. 
I returned and told her, but she again said ' it will be 
too late! She died the same evening at seven o'clock. 
The next morning her voice was distinctly and re- 
peatedly heard (in a shrill tone) by the person who 
wrote the relation, making her former inquiry. Be- 
tween ten and twelve the men came to put her in the 
coffin ; and when performed, the whole family assem- 
bled to dinner, but, wonderful to relate, her voice was 
again heard, saying, * FatJier, it is not pj^inted! Had I 
been alone, I should have considered it was my agitated 
mind that deceived me, but all present heard it, and 
the men became as if they were thunderstruck." 

This was heard and solemnly attested by no less 
than six witnesses, all of whom concurred in one testi- 
mony, and were considered as persons of veracity. 

After her death, a sermon was preached by a dissent- 
ing minister named Vowles, at Steps Meeting, Tiver- 
ton, in which much presumption and high-toned dog- 
matism were adduced, to prove the fraud of the whole 
story. Mr. Vowles's sermon obtained considerable 
circulation, and two large editions were sold ; but it 
is a question whether the high authorities adduced 
by him as having credited supernatural voices, &c., 
did not tend to support the theory in a stronger 
proportion, than his arguments were calculated to 
weaken it. 



LVI. 

Apparition seen by Lady Peitnyman and Mrs, Atkins, 

At the commencement of the French revolution. 
Lady Pennyman and her two daughters retired to Lisle, 
where they hired a large and handsome house at a 



1 36 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 

trifling rent. During their residence there, the lady- 
received from her husband, Sir John Pennyman, a draft 
for a considerable sum, which she carried to the banker 
of the town and requested to have cashed. The man, 
as is often the case on the continent, gave her a large 
portion of silver in exchange. As Lady Pennyman 
was proceeding to pay some visits, she requested that 
the banker would send the money to her house, of 
which she described the situation. The parcel was 
instantly committed to the care of a porter ; and, on 
the lady's enquiring of him whether he understood, 
from her directions, the place to which his charge was 
to be conveyed, the man replied that he was perfectly 
aware of the place designated, and that it was called 
the " Haunted House." The latter part of this answer 
was addressed to the banker in a low tone of voice, but 
was overheard by Lady Pennyman ; she paid, however, 
no attention to the words, and naturally supposed that 
the report connected with her habitation was one of 
those which are raised by the imagination of the igno- 
rant respecting every dwelling which is long unte- 
nanted, or remarkable for its antiquity. 

A few weeks afterwards, the words were recalled to 
her recollection in a manner that surprised her : the 
housekeeper, with many apologies for being obliged to 
mention any thing that might appear so idle and 
absurd, came to the apartment in which her mistress 
was sitting, and said that two of the servants who had 
accompanied her ladyship from England had that morn- 
ing given warning, and expressed the determination of 
quitting her ladyship's service, on account of the mys- 
terious noises by which they had been, night after 
night, disturbed and terrified. " I trust. Carter,'' re- 
plied Lady Pennyman, " that you have too much good 
sense to be alarmed on your own account by any of 
these superstitious and visionary fears ; and pray exert 
yourself in endeavouring to tranquillize the apprehen- 



APPARITION SEEN B V LAD Y PENNYMAN. 137 

sions of others, and persuade them to continue in their 
places." The persuasion of Carter was ineffectual : 
the servants insisted that the noises which had alarmed 
them were not the operation of any earthly beings, and 
persevered in their resolution of returning to their 
native country. 

The room from which the sounds were supposed to 
have proceeded w^as at a distance from Lady Penny- 
man's apartments, and immediately over those which 
were occupied by the two female servants who had 
been terrified by them, and whose report had spread a 
general panic throughout the family. To quiet the 
alarm, Lady Pennyman resolved on leaving her own 
chamber for a time and establishing herself in the one 
which had been lately occupied by the domestics. 

The room above was a long spacious apartment, 
which appeared to have been for a length of time de- 
serted. In the centre of the chamber was a large iron 
cage : it was an extraordinary piece of furniture to find 
in any mansion, but the legend which the servants had 
collected respecting it appeared to be still more extraor- 
dinary. It was said that a late proprietor of the house, 
a young man of enormous property, had in his minority 
been confined in that apartment by his uncle and guar- 
dian, and there hastened to a premature death by the 
privations and cruelties to which he was exposed; those 
cruelties having been practised under the pretence of 
necessary correction. The savage purpose of mur- 
dering the boy, under the pretence of a strict attention 
to his interest or his improvement, was successful ; the 
lad was declared to be incorrigible, there was a feigned 
necessity for the severest correction, and he was sen- 
tenced to a term of captivity and privation. On his 
uncle's arriving, with the show of an hypocritical 
leniency, an hour previous to the appointed time to 
deliver him from the residue of his punishment, it was 
found that death had anticipated the false mercy, and 



1 3 8 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

had for ever emancipated the innocent sufiferer from 
the hands of the oppressor. 

The wealth was won, but it was an unprofitable 
acquisition. The wrongful possessor was haunted by 
an active conscience that would not be silenced ; the 
form of the dead and inoffensive boy was constantly 
before him. His dreams represented to his view the 
playful and beautiful looks that won all eyes towards 
him, while his parents were yet alive to cheer and to 
delight him : and then the vision of his sleep would 
change, and he would see his calm suffering and his 
silent tears, his patient endurance and his indefatigable 
exertions in attempting the accomplishment of difficult 
exactions ; his pale cheek, wasted limbs, and spiritless 
countenance ; and then, at last, there was the rigid, 
bony, and distorted form, the glazed open eye, the 
mouth violently compressed, and the clenched hands, 
on which his view had rested for a moment, when all 
his wicked hopes had attained their most sanguine 
consummation and he surveyed the corpse of his 
murdered relative. These recollections banished him 
from his home, the mansion was left tenantless ; and, 
till Lady Pennyman had inadvertently engaged it, all 
had dreaded to become the inmates of a dwelling 
which been fatal to one possessor and shunned as 
destructive to the tranquillity of his heir. 

During the first night or two of Lady Pennyman's 
occupation of her new apartment she met with no in- 
terruptions ; nor was her sleep in the least disturbed 
by any of those mysterious noises in the Cage Chamber 
(for so it was commonly called in the family) which 
she had been induced to expect by the representations 
of the departed servants. This quiet, however, was of 
very short duration ; one night she v/as awakened 
from her sleep by the sound of a slow and measured 
step that appeared to be pacing the chamber over- 
head ; it continued to move backwards and forwards 



APPARITION SEEN BY LADY PEN NYHAN. 1 39 

with nearly the same constant and regular motion for 
rather more than an hour — perhaps Lady Pennyman's 
agitation might have deceived her and induced her to 
think the time longer than it really was. It at length 
ceased : morn dawned upon her, and she went down 
to breakfast, after forming a resolution not to mention 
the event. 

Lady Pennyman and her daughters had nearly com- 
pleted their breakfast before her son, a young man 
who had lately returned from sea, descended from his 
apartment. " My dear Charles," said his mother, " I 
wonder you are not ashamed of your indolence and 
your want of gallantry, to suffer your sisters and my- 
self to finish breakfast before you are ready to join 
us." " Indeed, madam/' he replied, " it is not my fault 
if I am late ; I have not had any sleep all night. 
There have been people knocking at my door and 
peeping into my room every half hour since I went up 
stairs to bed : I presume they wanted to see if my 
candle was extinguished. It has been really very 
distressing, as I certainly never gave you any occasion 
to suspect I should be careless in taking so necessary 
a precaution ; and it is not pleasant to be represented 
in such a light to the domestics." " Indeed, my dear, 
the interruption has taken place entirely without my 
knowledge. I assure you it is not by any order of 
mine that your room has been looked into : I cannot 
think what could induce any servant of mine to be 
guilty of such a liberty. Are you certain that you 
have not mistaken the nature and origin of the sound 
by which your sleep has been disturbed 1 " '' Oh, no ; 
there could have been no mistake : I was perfectly 
awake when the interruption first took place, and 
afterwards it was so frequently repeated as to pre- 
vent the possibility of my sleeping." 

More complaints from the housekeeper; no servant 
would remain ; every individual of the family had his 



140 SIGNS BEFORE DEATH. 

tale of terror to increase the apprehensions of the rest ; 
Lady Pennyman began to be herself alarmed. Mrs. 
Atkins, a woman devoid of every kind of superstitious 
fear, and of tried courage, understanding, and resolu- 
tion, determined at once to silence all the stories that 
had been fabricated respecting the Cage Room, and to 
allay their terrors by adopting that apartment for her 
own bedchamber during the remainder of her residence 
at Lisle. A bed was accordingly placed in the apart- 
ment. The Cage Room was rendered as comfortable 
as possible on so short a notice ; and Mrs. Atkins re- 
tired to rest, attended by her favourite spaniel. 

Mrs. Atkins now examined her chamber in every 
direction : she sounded every panel of the wainscot 
to prove that there was no hoUowness which might 
argue a concealed passage, and having bolted the door 
of the Cage Room, retired to rest. Her assurance 
was doomed to be shortlived : she had only been a 
few minutes asleep when her dog, which lay by the 
bedside, leaped, howling and terrified, upon the bed ; 
the door of the chamber slowly opened, and a pale, 
thin, sickly youth came in, cast his eyes mildly towards 
her, walked up to the iron cage in the middle of the 
room, and then leaned in the melancholy attitude of 
one revolving in his mind the sorrows of a cheerless 
and unblest existence ; after a while he withdrew, and 
retired by the way he entered. 

Mrs. Atkins, on witnessing his departure, felt the 
return of her resolution ; she persuaded herself to be- 
lieve the figure the work of some skilful imipostor, and 
she determined on following its footsteps : she took 
up her chamber lamp, and hastened to put her design 
into execution. On reaching the door, to her infinite 
surprise, she discovered it to be fastened, as she had 
herself left it on retiring to her bed. Withdrawing 
the bolt and opening the door, she saw the back of 
the youth descending the staircase ; she followed, till, 



APPARITION SEEN BY LADY PENNYMAN. I4I 

on reaching the foot of the stairs, the form appeared 
to sink into the earth. It was in vain to attempt to 
conceal the occurrences of this night ; her voice, her 
manner, the impossibility of sleeping a second time 
in the evil chamber would necessarily betray that 
something of a painful and mysterious nature had 
occurred. 

The event was related to Lady Pennyman : she 
determined to remain no longer in her present habita- 
tion. The man of whom the house had been engaged 
was spoken to on the subject : he became extremely 
violent — said it w^as no time for the English to indulge 
their imaginations, insinuated something of the guillo- 
tine, and bade her, at her peril, drop a single expression 
to the injury of his property. While she remained in 
France not a word was uttered upon the subject ; she 
framed an excuse for her abrupt departure : another 
residence was offered in the vicinity of Lisle, which 
she engaged on the pretext of its being better calcu- 
lated to the size of her family ; and at once relinquished 
her habitation and with it every preternatural occasion 
of anxiety. 

Although the preceding story "smells of the cloister/' 
is somewhat tinctured with romance, and has been 
enlarged upon by successsive narrators, the facts are 
authenticated and accredited by the parties to whom 
they occurred. An old deserted house at Lisle would 
probably be an object of terror to weak minds, but not 
to the understandings of the well educated heads of a 
family, as well as the other several members of a large 
establishment. — From H, VVelby. 



142 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TIL 

LVII. 

The Midnight Storm. 

(FROM THE FRENCH.) 

** Of shapes that walk 

At dead of night, and clank their chains, and wave 
The torch of hell around the murderer's bed." 

Pleasures of Imagination. 

On the evening of the I2th June, , a joyous 

party was assembled at Monsieur de Montbrun's 
chateau to celebrate the marriage of his nephew, who 
had in the morn of that day led to the altar the long- 
sought object of his fond attachment. The mansion 
which was on this occasion the scene of merriment, 
was situated in the province of Gascony, at no very 
great distance from the town of . 

It was a venerable building, erected during the war 
of the League, and consequently discovered in its ex- 
terior some traces of that style of architecture which 
endeavoured to unite strength and massiveness with 
domestic comfort. Situated in a romantic but thinly- 
peopled district, the family of Monsieur de Montbrun 
was compelled principally to rely on itself for amuse- 
ment and society. This family consisted of the 
chevalier, an old soldier of blunt but hospitable 
manners ; his nephew, the bridegroom, whom (having 
no male children) he had adopted as his son, and 
Mademoiselle Emily, his only daughter: the latter 
was amiable, frank, and generous ; warm in her attach- 
ments but rather romantic in forming them. Employed 
in rural sports and occupations, and particularly 
attached to botany, for which the country around 
afforded an inexhaustible field, the chevalier and his 
inmates had not much cultivated the intimacy of the 
few families which disgust of the world, or other remote 
motives, had planted in this retired spot. Occasional 
visits exchanged with the nearest of their neighbours, 



THE MIDNIGHT STORM. 1 43 

sometimes enlivened their small circle ; but with the 
greater part of those who lived at a distance they were 
scarcely acquainted even by name. 

The approaching" nuptials, however of Theodore 
(Monsieur de Montbrun's adopted son), excited con- 
siderable conversation in the adjacent district : and 
the wedding of her cousin, it was determined by Emily, 
should not pass off unaccompanied by every festivity 
which the nature of their position and the joyfulness 
of the event would allow. On this occasion, therefore, 
inquiries were made as to all the neighbouring gentry 
within a considerable distance around ; and there were 
none of the least note neglected in the invitations, 
which were scattered in all directions. Many persons 
were consequently present with whose persons and 
character the host and his family were totally un- 
acquainted : some also accepted the summons who 
were strangers to them even by name. 

Emily was attentive and courteous to all ; but to 
one lady in particular she attached herself during the 
entertainment with most sedulous regard. Madame 
de Nunez, the immediate object of Emily's care, had 
lately settled in the neighbourhood, and had hitherto 
studied to shun society. It was supposed that she 
was the widow of a Spanish officer of the Walloon 
guards, to whom she had been fondly attached ; indeed 
so much so, that, notwithstanding he had been dead 
several years the lady never appeared but in deep 
mourning. She had only lately settled in Gascony ; 
but her motives for retiring from Spain and fixing on 
the French side of the Pyrenees, were not known, and 
but slightly conjectured. Isabella de Nunez was 
about twenty-eight years of age, tall and well-formed : 
her countenance was striking, nay even handsome, but 
a nice physiognomist would have traced in her features 
evidence of the stronger passions of human nature. 
He would have seen pride softened by distress ; and 



144 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

would have fancied, at times, that the effects of some 
concealed crime were still evident in her knit brow 
and retiring eye, when she became the object of 
marked scrutiny. 

She had never before entered the chateau de Mont- 
brun, and her person had hitherto been unnoticed by 
Emily ; but now that she had once seen her she 
devoted herself with all the ardour of a warm and 
impulsive nature to her new friend. The lady re- 
ceived the attentions of her amiable hostess with 
grateful but dignified reserve. 

The morning had been extremely sultry, and an op- 
pressive sensation in the atmosphere as the day closed 
threw an air of gloom over the company ill suited to 
the occasion of their meeting. Madame de Nunez 
appeared more than any one else to feel the effects of 
the half-stifling closeness ; the occasional sparks of 
gaiety which she had discovered gradually disappeared, 
and before the day had entirely closed she seemed at 
times perfectly abstracted and at other times to start 
with causeless apprehension. In order to divert or 
dispel this increasing uneasiness, which threatened to 
interfere seriously with the pleasure of the festival, 
dancing was proposed,and the enlivening sounds of the 
music in a short time dissipated the temporary gloom. 
The dancing had not however long continued when the 
expected storm burst in all its fury on the chateau ; 
the thunder, with its continued roar, reverberated by 
the adjoining mountains, caused the utmost alarm 
amongst the fair visitors ; the torrents of rain which 
fell might almost be said to have swelled the waters 
of the neighbouring Garonne, whilst sheets of light- 
ning reflected on its broad waves gave a deeper 
horror to the pitchy darkness which succeeded. The 
continuance of the storm gradually increased the ap- 
prehensions of the greater part of the females to 
horror; and they took refuge in the arched vaults and 



THE MIDNIGHT STORM. 145 

long subterranean passages which branched beneath 
the chateau, from the vivid glare of the lightning, al- 
though unable to shut their ears to the reiterated 
claps of thunder which seemed to shake the building 
to its foundations. 

In this general scene of horror, Isabella alone ap- 
peared unappalled. The alternate abstraction and 
alarm which before seemed to harass her mind had 
now vanished, and had given place to an appearance 
of resignation which might almost be considered as 
bordering on apathy. While the younger females 
yielded without resistance to the increasing horrors of 
the tempest, and by frequent shrieks and exclama- 
tions of dread bore testimony to the terror excited in 
their bosoms by the aggravated circumstances of the 
scene, she suffered no symptom of apprehension to 
be visible in her now unvarying features. Agitation 
had yielded to quiet ; she sat ostensibly placid : but 
her apparent inattention was not the effect of tran- 
quility, but the result of persevering exertion. 

The hour was approaching towards midnight ; and 
the storm, instead of blowing over, having increased 
in violence, the hospitable owner of the mansion pro- 
posed to his guests that they should abandon the idea 
of returning home through the torrents of rain — 
which had already deluged the country and rendered 
the roads in the vicinity impassable — but should ac- 
commodate themselves, with mutual concessions to 
circumstances, to the only plan now to be devised — 
that of making themselves easy during the remainder 
of this dismal night. Although his mansion was not 
extensive, yet he proposed, with the aid of temporary 
couches, and putting the ladies to the inconvenience 
of sleeping two in each room, to render the party as 
comfortable as the means at his disposal would allow, 
and which would at all events be more agreeable than 
braving abroad the horrors of the tempest. 

lO 



146 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

Reasonable as such a plan was In itself, it was still 
more strongly recommended by the circumstance that 
the carriages which were expected to convey the 
parties to their respective abodes had not arrived ; 
and from the state of the roads, and the continuance 
of the still pitiless storm, it seemed hopeless to expect 
them. 

The party, therefore, yielded without regret to the 
arrangement, save but one dissenting voice. The 
fair Spaniard alone positively declined the offered 
accommodation. Argument in vain was used for a 
considerable space of time to detain her ; she positively 
insisted on returning home ; and would have faced 
the storm in defiance of all appeal, had not an obstacle 
which appeared invincible militated against her resolve 
— her carriage and servants were not arrived, and from 
the representation of Monsieur de Montbrun's dom- 
estics (some of whom had been detached to examine 
the condition of the neighbouring roads), it was per- 
fectly clear that with that part of the district in which 
she resided no communication could for several hours 
take place. Madame de Nunez, therefore, at length 
yielded to necessity, although the pertinacity of her 
resistance had already excited much surprise, and 
called forth innumerable conjectures. 

The arrangements between the respective parties 
were soon made, and the greater part of the ladies 
gladly retired to seek repose from the harassing events 
of the day. Emily, who had not relaxed in her marked 
attention to her interesting friend, warmly pressed her 
to share her own room in which a sofa had been pre- 
pared as a couch, to which she herself insisted on 
retiring, while Madame de Nunez should take posses- 
sion of the bed. The latter, however, again strenu- 
ously objected to this plan, asserting that she should 
prefer remaining all night in one of the sitting-rooms, 
with no other companion than a book. She appeared 



THE MIDNIGHT S TOEM, 1 47 

obstinately to adhere to this resolution, until Emily 
politely, yet positively, declared, that were such the 
intention of her new friend she would also join her in 
the saloon and pass the time in conversation until the 
day should break, or until Madame's servants should 
arrive. This proposition, or rather determination, was 
received by the frowning Isabella with an air of visible 
chagrin and disappointment not altogether polite. 
She expressed her unwillingness that Mademoiselle 
should be inconvenienced, with some peevishness ; but 
this, however, soon gave place to her former air of 
good breeding. 

She now appeared anxious to hurry to her room ; 
and the rest of the party having some time retired, 
she was escorted thither by the ever attentive Emily. 
No sooner had they reached the chamber, than Isa- 
bella sunk into a chair ; and after struggling for some 
time in evident emotion for utterance, at length ex- 
claimed : — 

" Why, dearest Emily, would you insist on sharing 
with me the horrors of this night 1 To me the punish- 
ment is a merited one : but to you '' 

"What, my dearest madam, do you say.?" replied 
Emily affectionately — " The terrors of the night are 
over, the thunder appears retiring, and the lightning is 
less vivid ; and see in the west (she added as she went 
to the window) there are still some remains of the 
summ.er twilight. Do not any longer, then, suffer the 
apprehensions of the storm which has passed over us 
to disturb the repose which you will, I hope, so shortly 
enjoy." 

" Talk you of repose ! " said Madame de Nunez, in 
a voice almost choked with agitation. " Know you 
not, then, that on the anniversary of this horrid night 
— but what am I saying ! — to you, at present, all 
this is mystery ; too soon your own feelings will add 
conviction to the terrible experience which six revolv- 



148 SIGNS BEFORE DEATH. 

ing years have afforded me, and which, even now but 
to think on harrows up my soul. But no more." 

Then darting suddenly towards the door, which had 
hitherto remained ajar, she closed it with violence ; and 
locking it, withdrew the key, which she placed in her 
own pocket. Emily had scarcely time to express her 
surprise at this action and the apparent distraction 
which accompanied it, ere Madame de Nunez seized 
both her hands with more than female strength, and 
with a maddening voice, and eyes straining on vacancy, 
exclaimed : — 

" Bear witness, ye powers of terror ! that I imposed 
not this dreadful scene on the female whose oath must 
now secure her silence." 

Then staring wildly on Mademoiselle de Montbrun, 
she continued : — 

'' Why, foolish girl, wouldst thou insist on my par- 
taking thy bed t the viper might have coiled in thy 
bosom ; the midnight assassin might have aimed his 
dagger at thy breast : but the poison of the one would 
have been less fatal, and the apprehension of instant 
annihilation from the other would have been less 
oppressive, than the harrowing scene which thou art 
doomed this night to witness — doomed, I say ; for all 
the powers of hell, whose orgies you must behold, 
cannot release you from the spectacle which you have 
voluntarily sought." 

"To what am I doomed !" cried Emily, whose fears 
for herself were lessened in the dread she felt for her 
friend's intellect, which she supposed was suddenly 
become affected by illness, or the exciting incidents of 
the past day. 

Isabella, after a silence of several minutes, during 
which she endeavoured to recover some degree of com- 
posure, in a softened but determined voice, added : — 

*' Think not my friend (if I may usq that endearing 
expression to one whose early prospects and happier 



THE MIDNIGHT S TORM, 1 49 

days I am unwillingly condemned to blast), that dis- 
order has produced the agitation which, spite of myself, 
you have witnessed. Alas ! great as have been my 
sorrows, and heavy as my crime weighs on me, my 
reason has still preserved its throne : to seek oblivion 
in idiotcy, to bury the remembrance of my fatal error 
in derangement, would, I might almost say, be happi- 
ness to me. But fate has forbidden such an alleviation, 
and my impending destiny, which is not to be guarded 
against by precaution, cannot be avoided by repent- 
ance." 

'' Nay," said Emily, '' exaggerated as your self-con- 
demnation makes the fault to which you allude appear, 
in religion you may find a solace which could efface 
crimes of much deeper dye than any with which you 
can possibly charge yourself 

" Ah ! no," replied the fair Spaniard. " Religion, it 
is true, holds out her benignant hand to receive the 
wandering sinner ; she offers to the stranger a home, 
she welcomes to her bosom the repentant though blood- 
stained criminal ; — but for crimes like mine, what 
penitence can atone 1 But we waste time," added she; 
" the midnight hour approaches ; and ere the clock in 
the turret first announces that dreaded period, much 
must be done." 

Thus saying, she went into the adjoining oratory, 
and finding on the little altar at which Emily offered 
her daily orisons, an ivory crucifix, she returned with 
it in her hand ; and again seizing and forcibly grasping 
the hand of her now really alarmed hostess, she ex- 
claimed, in a hollow, yet determined voice : — 

'' Swear, that whatsoever you may this night, this 
eventful night, be a witness to, not all the apprehen- 
sions of hell, not all your hopes of heaven, shall tempt 
you to reveal; until I am committed to the silent tomb 
— Swear ! " 

Emily for a moment hesitated to adopt an oath im- 



I so SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

posed under circumstances of such an extraordinary 
nature : but whilst she was debating, Madame de 
Nunez, more violently grasping her hand, exclaimed, 
in a voice harsh from agitation : — 

" Swear ; or dread the event ! " 

" Swear ! *' Emily fancied she heard echoed from 
the oratory. Almost sinking with horror she faintly 
repeated the solemn oath, which the frantic female, 
whose character appeared so perfectly changed, dic- 
tated to her. 

She had no sooner thus solemnly bound herself to 
silence, than Madame de Nunez's agitation appeared 
to subside ; she replaced the crucifix on the altar, and 
sinking on her knees before the chair in which Emily, 
almost void of animation, was seated, she feebly ex- 
claimed : — 

" Pardon, dearest Emily, the madness of my con- 
duct, necessity has dictated it towards you ; and your 
wayward fate, and not your suffering friend, is answer- 
able for it. For six long years have I confined to my 
own bosom the horrors which we this night must jointly 
witness. On the anniversary of this day — but I dare 
not yet communicate the dreadful event ; some hours 
hence I may recover composure to relate it : but re- 
member your oath. While I live, the secret is buried 
in your bosom. You must have remarked my unwill- 
ingness to remain in your dwelHng ; you could not 
have been inattentive to my repugnance to share your 
room — too soon you will have a dreadful explanation 
of the cause. Be not angry with me— I must endea- 
vour to conceal the circumstances which appal my 
soul : I must still preserve the respect of society, al- 
though I have for ever forfeited my own — hence the 
oath I have imposed on you. But — " 

Here further conversation was interrupted by the 
sound of the turret clock, which began to strike the 
hour of midnight. It had scarcely finished, ere the 



THE MIDNIGHT STORM, 1 5 1 

slow rolling of a carriage was heard in the paved 
court-yard ; at the noise of which, Madame de Nunez 
started from the posture in which she had continued 
at the feet of Emily, and rushed towards the door, 
which she had previously locked. Emily now heard 
heavy footsteps ascending the oaken staircase ; and 
before she could recall her recollection, which so singu- 
lar a circumstance had bewildered, the door of the 
room in which they were sitting, spite of its fas- 
tening, slowly moved on its hinges ; and in the next 
minute Emily sunk on the earth in a state of stupefac- 
tion. 

It is well for the human frame, that when assailed 
by circumstances too powerful to support, it seeks 
shelter in oblivion. The mind recoils from the horrors 
which it cannot meet, and is driven into insensibility. 
At an early hour of the ensuing morning Madame 
de Nunez quitted Monsieur de Montbrun's chateau, 
accompanied by her servants, whom the retiring tor- 
rents had permitted to await their mistress's commands. 
She took a hasty farewell of the master of the man- 
sion, and without making any inquiries as to the rest 
of the party, departed. 

At the usual hour of breakfast, Emily did not ap- 
pear ; and her father at length went to her room door, 
and receiving no answer to his inquiries, went in. 
Judge his horror when he discovered his daughter lying 
on the bed in the clothes she had worn the preceding 
day, but in a state of apparent insensibility. Imme- 
diate medical assistance was procured, and she at 
length discovered symptoms of returning life ; but no 
sooner had she recovered her recollection, than, looking 
with horror and affright around her, she relapsed into 
a state of insensibility. Repeated cordials being ad- 
ministered, she was again restored to life ; but only to 
become the victim of a brain fever, which in a few days 
put a period to her existence. In a short interval of re- 



1 5 2 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

collection, in the early part of her illness, she confided 
to her father what we have here related ; but conscien- 
tiously kept from his knowledge what she was bound 
by her oath to conceal. The very remembrance of what 
she had witnessed on that fatal night hurried her into 
deliriums, and she fell a victim to the force of recol- 
lection. 

Madame de Nunez did not long survive her ; but 
expired under circumstances of unexampled horror. — 
From H, Welby, 

LVIIL 

Apparition seen by Mr, Walker, Curate of Warbling- 
ton, in Hampshire, 

The following letter from Mr. Caswell, the mathe- 
matician, was found among Dr. Bentley's papers : — 

"Sir, — When I was in London, April last, I fully 
intended to have waited upon you again, as I said, 
but cold and lameness seized me next day : the cold 
took away my voice, and the other my power of walk- 
ing; so I presently took coach for Oxford. I am 
much your debtor ; and in particular for your good 
intentions in relation to Mr. D. though that, as it has 
proved, would not have turned to my advantage : 
however, I am obliged to you upon that and other 
accounts, and if I had opportunity to show it, you 
should find how much I am your faithful servant. I 
have sent you enclosed a relation of an apparition. 
The story I had from two persons, who each had it 
from the author, and yet their accounts somewhat 
varied, and passing through more mouths, has varied 
still more. Threefore I got a friend to bring me to 
the author's, at a chamber, v/here I wrote it down 
from the author s mouth, after which I read it to him, 
and gave him another copy. He said he could swear 
to the truth of it, as far as he is concerned. He is 



APPARITION SEEN BY MR. WALKER, 153 

curate of Warblington, bachelor of arts of Trinity 
College in Oxford, about six years standing in the 
university. I hear no ill report of his behaviour here; 
he is now gone to his curacy. He has promised to 
send up the accounts of the tenant and his man, who 
is a smith by trade, and the farmer's men, as far as 
they are concerned. Mr. Brinton, the rector, would 
have him say nothing of the story ; for that he can 
get no tenant, although he has offered the house for 
ten pounds a-year less. Mr. P., the former incumbent, 
whom the apparition represented, was a man of a very 
ill report, supposed to have seduced his servant-maid, 
and to have murdered the offspring ; but I advised 
the curate to say nothing himself of this last part of 
P. but leave that to the parishioners who knew him. 
Those who knew this P. say he had exactly such a 
gown, and that he used to whistle. — Yours, 

"J. Caswell." 

Enclosed in this letter is the following circumstan- 
tial and perspicuous narrative : — 

At Warblington, near Havant, in Flampshire, within 
six miles of Portsmouth, in the parsonage-house, dwelt 
Thomas Perse, the tenant, with his wife and a child, a 
man-servant, Thomas, and a maid-servant. About 
the beginning of August, 1695, on a Monday, about 
nine or ten at night, all being in bed except the maid 
with the child, the maid being in the kitchen and hav- 
ing raked up the fire, took a candle in one hand and 
the child in the other arm, and turning about, saw one 
in a black gown walk through the room, and thence 
out of the door into the orchard. Upon this the maid 
cried out ; the master and the mistress ran down stairs, 
found the candle in her hand, while she grasped the 
child firmly with the other arm : she told them the 
reason of her crying out. She would not sleep that 
night in the house, but removed to another belonging 



1 54 SIGISrS BEFORE DEA TH. 

to one Henry Salter, farmer, and she could not be 
persuaded to go any more to the house on any terms. 
On the morrow (Tuesday), the tenant's wife came to 
me, lodging then at Havant, to desire my advice, and 
consult with some friends about it ; I told her I 
thought it was a flam, and that they had a mind to 
abuse Mr. Brereton, the rector, whose house it was. 
She desired I would come up. I told her I would come 
up, and either sit up or sleep there as she pleased ; for 
then, as to all stories of ghosts or apparations, I was 
an infidel. I went thither, and sat up the Tuesday 
night with the tenant and his man-servant. About 
twelve or one o'clock I searched all the rooms in the 
house, to see if anybody was hidden there to impose 
upon me. At last we came into a lumber room, where 
I, smiling, told the tenant that was with me that I would 
call for the apparation, and oblige him to come. The 
tenant then seemed to be afraid, but I told him I would 
defend him from harm ; and then I repeated, " Barbara, 
celai^ent Dariiy' &c.; on this the tenant's countenance 
changed, so that he was ready to drop down with fear ; 
and I told him I perceived he was afraid, and I would 
prevent its coming, and repeated, " Baralipton',' &c. ; 
then he recovered his spirits pretty well, and we left 
the room and went down into the kitchen, where we 
were before, and sat up there the remaining part of 
the night, and had no farther disturbance. Thursday 
night the tenant and I slept in the same room, and the 
man in another room ; and he saw something glide 
along in a black gown and place itself against a window; 
stand there for some time, and then walk off. Friday 
morning, the man relating this, I asked him why he did 
not call me, and I told him I thought that it was a 
trick or a flam ; he told me the reason why he did not 
call me was, that he was not able to speak or move. 
Friday night we slept as before, and experienced no 
disturbance either of the nights. 



APPARITION SEEN B Y MR, WALKER, 1 5 5 

Sunday night I occupied one room alone (apart from 
that in which the man saw the apparition) and the 
tenant and the man were in one bed in another room ; 
and betw^ixt twelve and two the man heard something 
walk in their room at the bed's foot, and whistling very 
well ; and at last it came to the bedside, drew the cur- 
tain, and looked on them ; after some time it moved 
off. Then the man called to me, desired me to come, 
for that there was something in the room going about 
whistling. I asked him whether he had any light, or 
could strike one ; he told me, no. Then I leaped out 
of bed, and not staying to put on my clothes, went out 
of my room and along a gallery to the door, which I 
found locked or bolted. I desired him to unlock the 
door, as that I could not get in ; he then got out of bed 
and opened the door, which was near, and went im- 
mediately again to bed. I went in three or four steps ; 
and it being a moonlight night, I saw the apparation 
move from the bedside, and up against the wall that 
divided their room and mine. I went and stood 
directly against it, within my arm's length of it, and 
asked it in the name of God what it was that made it 
come disturbing us. I stood some time expecting an 
answer, and receiving none, and thinking it might be 
some fellow hidden in the room to frighten me, I put 
out my arm to feel it, and my hand seemingly went 
through the body of it, and felt no manner of substance 
till it cam.e to the wall ; then I drew back my hand, 
and still it was in the same place. Till now I had not 
the least fear, and even now had very little. Then I 
adjured it to tell me what it was. When I had said 
those words, it, keeping its back against the wall, 
moved gently along towards the door ; I followed, and 
going out at the door, it turned its back towards me ; 
went a little along the gallery and disappeared where 
there was no corner for it to turn, and before it came 
to the end of the gallery where were the stairs. Then 



1 5^ SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 

I found myself very cold from my feet as high as my 
hips, though I was not in great fear. I went into the 
bed betwixt the tenant and his man, and they com- 
plained of my being exceeding cold. 

The tenant's man leaned over his master in the bed, 
and saw me stretch out my hand towards the appari- 
tion, and heard me speak the words ; the tenant also 
heard the words. 

The apparition seemed to have on a morning gown 
of a darkish colour, no hat nor cap^ short black hair, a 
thin meagre visage of a pale swarthy colour ; appeared 
to be of a middle stature, and about five and forty or 
fifty years old ; the eyes were half shut, the arms hang- 
ing down, the hands visible beneath the sleeve. I re- 
lated this description to Mr. John Lardner rector of 
Havant, and to Major Batten of Langstone, in Havant 
parish ; they both said the description accorded with 
Mr. P., a former rector of the place, who had been dead 
above twenty years. Upon this the tenant and his 
wife left the house, which has remained void ever since. 

The Monday after last Michaelmas day a man of 
Chodson, in Warwickshire, having been at Havant fair, 
passed by the aforesaid parsonage house about nine or 
ten at night, and saw a light in most of the rooms of 
the house. His pathway being close by the house, he, 
wondering at the light, looked into the kitchen window, 
and saw only a light ; but, turning himself to go away, 
he saw the appearance of a man in a long govv^n : he 
made haste away ; the apparition followed him over a 
piece of glebe land of several acres, to a lane which he 
crossed, and over a little meadow ; then over another 
lane to some pales, whichbelongto farmer Henry Salter, 
my landlord, near a barn, in which were some of the 
farmer's men and some others. This man went into 
the barn, and told them how he had been frightened 
and followed from the parsonage -house by an appari- 
tion, which they might see standing against the pales 



LORD ORRERY AND THE BUTLER. 157 

if they went out : they went out, and saw it scratch 
against the pales, and heard a hideous noise; it stood 
there some time, and then disappeared: their descrip- 
tion agreed with what I saw. 

This last account I had from the man himself, and 
also from the farmer s men. 

Thomas Wilkins, 

Curate of Warburton. 
December 1 1, 1695, Oxon. 



LIX. 

Lord Orrery and the Butler, 

A gentleman in Ireland, residing near the Earl of 
Orrery, sent his butler one afternoon to buy some cards. 
As he passed along, he saw a company of people sit- 
ting round a table with good cheer before them, in the 
midst of a field. On approaching them they all arose 
and saluted him, and desired him to sit down with 
them ; but one of them vdiispered these words in his 
ear, '"'Do nothing this company invites you to do." 
Hereupon he refused to sit down at the table, and im- 
mediately table and all that belonged disappeared ; 
and the company began dancing, and playing upon 
musical instruments. The butler being asked to join 
them, he refused ; and they not being able to prevail 
upon him to accompany them in working, any more 
than in feasting or dancing, they all disappeared, and 
the butler was left alone. Instead of going forward, 
he returned home as fast as he could in great con- 
sternation ; and had no sooner entered his masters 
door, than he fell down, and lay some time senseless ; 
but recovering himself, he related to his master what 
had passed. 

The night following there came one of this company 
to his bedside, and told him, that if he offered to stir 



I S 8 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

out of doors the next day he would be carried away. 
Hereupon he kept at home ; but towards the evening 
he ventured to put one foot over the threshold (several 
persons standing by), which he had no sooner done, 
than a rope was thrown about his middle, and the 
poor man was hurried away with great swiftness ; the 
spectators followed him as fast as they could, but 
could not overtake him. At length they espied a 
horseman coming towards him, and made signs to 
him to stop the man, whom he saw approaching him ; 
he could also see both ends of the rope but nobody 
drawing it. When they met he laid hold on one end 
of the rope, and immediately had a smart blow given 
him over the arm with the other end ; but by this 
means the man was stopped, and the horseman brought 
him back with him. 

The Earl of Orrery hearing these strange reports, 
requested that the man might be sent to his house the 
morning following, or quickly after ; when he told the 
Earl that his spectre had been with him again, and 
assured him that that day he should most certainly 
be carried away, and that no endeavours would avail 
to save him ; upon this he was kept in a large room 
with a considerable number of persons to guard him, 
among whom was. the famous Mr. Greatrakes, who 
was a neighbour. There were, besides other persons 
of quality, two bishops in the house at the same time, 
who were consulting concerning the use of a medicine 
which the spectre prescribed ; but they determined 
on the negative. 

Up to the middle of the afternoon all was quiet, 
but at length he was perceived to rise from the ground, 
whereupon Mr. Greatrakes and another lusty man 
placed their arms over his shoulders, one of .them be- 
fore him, and the other behind him, and weighed him 
down with all their strength ; but he was forcibly taken 
up from them, and for a considerable time he was 



LORD ORRERY AND THE BUTLER. 159 

carried in the air to and fro over their heads, several 
of the company still running under him to prevent his 
receiving injury if he should fall. At length he fell, 
and was caught before he came to the ground, and by 
that means was not hurt. 

All being quiet till bedtime, Lord Orrery ordered 
two of his servants to lie with him ; and the next 
morning he told his Lordship that his spectre was 
again with him, and brought a wooden dish, with grey 
liquor in it, and bid him drink it off. At the first 
sight of the spectre, he said he endeavoured to wake 
his bed-fellows, but it told him that such endeavour 
should be in vain ; and that he had no cause to fear 
him, he being his friend, and he that at first gave him 
the good advice in the field, which, had he not followed, 
he would have been before now perfectly in the power 
of the company he saw there. He added, that he 
concluded it was impossible that he should escape 
being carried away the day before, there was so strong 
a combination against him ; but now he could assure 
him that there would be no more attempts of that 
nature, and knowing that he was troubled with two 
kinds of fits, he had brought that liquor to cure him, 
and bade him drink it. He peremptorily refused, 
when the spectre upbraided him, but told him, how- 
ever, if he would take plantain juice he should be 
cured of one sort of fits, but he should carry the other 
to his grave. 

The spectre now asked him whether he did not 

know him } He answered, no. It replied, I am ; 

the man answered, " he has been long dead." '*' I have 
been dead," said the spectre, " seven years, and you 
know that I lived a loose life, and ever since I died I 
have been hurried up and down in a restless condition 
with the company you saw, and shall be to the day 
of judgment." — From H. Welby. 



l60 SIGNS BEFORE DEATH. 

LX. 

Apparitmi of Lord Tyrone to Lady Beresford, 

Lord Tyrone and Miss were born in Ireland, 

and were left orphans in their infancy to the care of 
the same person, by whom they were both educated 
in the principles of deism. 

Their guardian dying when they were each of them 
about fourteen years of age, they fell into very indiffe- 
rent hands. Though separated from each other, their 
friendship was unalterable, and they continued to re- 
gard each other with a sincere and fraternal affection. 
After some years had elapsed, and both were grown 
up, they made a solemn promise to each other that 
whichever should die first, would, if permitted, appear 
to the other, to declare what religion was most ap- 
proved by the Supreme Being. Miss was shortly 

after addressed by Sir Martin Beresford, to whom she 
was after a few years married, but a change of condi- 
tion had no power to alter their friendship. The 
families visited each other, and often spent some weeks 
together. A short time after one of these visits, Sir 
Martin remarked when his lady came down to break- 
fast, that her countenance was disturbed, and inquired 
of her health. She assured him she was quite well. 
He then asked her if she had hurt her wrist ; " Have 
you sprained it.? " said he, observing a black ribbon 
round it. She answered in the negative, and added, 
*' Let me conjure you. Sir Martin, never to inquire the 
cause of my wearing this ribbon ; you will never see 
me without it. If it concerned you as a husband to 
know, I would not for a moment conceal it ; I never 
in my life denied you a request, but of this I entreat 
you to forgive me the refusal, and never to urge me 
farther on the subject." " Very well," said he, smiling, 
" since you beg me so earnestly, I will inquire no 



APPARITION OF LORD TYRONE, l6l 

more." The conversation here ended ; but breakfast 
was scarce over when Lady Beresford eagerly inquired 
if the post was come in ; she Avas told it was not. In 
a few minutes she rang again and repeated the inquiry. 
She was again answered as at first. '' Do you expect 
letters 1 '' said Sir Martin, '' that you are so anxious 
for the arrival of the post } " '' I do/' she answered, 
" I expect to hear that Lord Tyrone is dead ; he died 
last Tuesday at four o'clock." " I never in my life/' 
said Sir Martin, ^' believed your superstitions ; some 
idle dream has surely thus alarmed you/' At that 
instant the servant entered and delivered to them a 
letter sealed with black. '^ It is as I expected/' ex- 
claimed Lady Beresford, " Lord Tyrone is dead." Sir 
Martin open the letter ; it came from Lord Tyrone's 
Stewart, and contained the melancholy intelligence of 
his master's death, and on the very day and hour Lady 
Beresford had before specified. Sir Martin begged 
Lady Beresford to compose herself, and she assured 
him she felt much easier than she had done for a long 
time ; and added, '' I can communicate intelligence to 
you which I know will prove welcome ; I can assure 
you, beyond the possibility of a doubt, that I shall in 
some months present you with a son/' Sir Martin re- 
ceived this news with the greatest joy. After some 
months, Lady Beresford was delivered of a son (she 
had before been the mother of two daughters). Sir 
Martin survived the birth of his son little more than 
four years. After his decease, his widow seldom left 
home ; she visited no family but that of a clergyman 
who resided in the same village ; with them she fre- 
quently passed a few hours every day ; the rest of her 
time was spent in solitude, and she appeared deter- 
mined for ever to banish all other society. The clergy- 
man's family consisted of himself, his wife, and one 
son, who at the time of Sir Martin's death, was quite 
a youth ; to this son, however, she was, after a few 

u 



1 62 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

years married, notwithstanding the disparity of years 
and the manifest imprudence of a connection so un- 
equal in every point of view. Lady Beresford was 
treated by her young husband with contempt and 
cruelty, while at the same time his conduct evinced the 
most abandoned libertinism, utterly destitute of every 
principle of virtue and humanity. By this, her second 
husband, she had two daughters ; after which such 
was the baseness of his conduct that she insisted on a 
separation. They parted for a few years, when so 
great was the contrition he expressed for his former 
conduct, that, won over by his supplications, promises, 
and entreaties, she was induced to pardon and once 
more to reside with him, and was in time the mother 
of a son. 

The day on which she had lain-in a month, being 
the anniversary of her birthday^ she sent for Lady 
Betty Cobb (of whose friendship she had long been 
possessed) and a few other friends, to request them to 
spend the day with her. About seven the clergyman 
by whom she had been christened and with whom 
she had all her life been intimate, came into the room 
to inquire after her health. She told him she was 
perfectly well, and requested him to spend the day 
with them ; for, said she, " This is my birthday. I am 
forty-eight to-day.'' " No, madam,'* answered the 
clergyman, "you are mistaken ; your mother and my- 
self have had many disputes concerning your age, 
and I have at last discovered that I was right. I 
happened to go last week into the parish where you 
were born ; I was resolved to put an end to the dis- 
pute ; I searched the register, and find that you are 
but forty-seven this day." " You have signed my 
death warrant," she exclaimed, '' I have then but a 
few hours to live. I must therefore entreat you to 
leave me immediately, as I have something of impor- 
tance to settle before I die." When the clergyman 



APPARITION OF LORD TYRONE, 1 63 

left her, Lady Beresford sent to forbid the company 
coming, and at the same time to request Lady Betty 
Cobb and her son (of whom Sir Martin was the father, 
and who was then about twenty-two years of age), to 
come to her apartment immediately. 

Upon their arrival, having ordered the attendants 
to quit the room, * I have something/ she said, * of 
the greatest importance to communicate to you both 
before I die, a period which is not far distant. You, 
Lady Betty, are no stranger to the friendship which 
subsisted between Lord Tyrone and myself ; we were 
educated under the same roof, and in the same prin- 
ciples of deism. When the friends, into whose hands 
we after^vards fell, endeavoured to persuade us to 
embrace revealed religion, their arguments, though 
insufficient to convince, were powerful enough to 
stagger our former feelings, and to leave us wavering 
between the two opinions ; in this perplexing state of 
doubt and uncertainty, v/e made a solemn promise to 
each other, that whichever died first should (if per- 
mitted) appear to the other, and declare what religion 
was most acceptable to God ; accordingly, one night, 
while Sir Martin and myself were in bed, I suddenly 
awoke and discovered Lord Tyrone sitting by my 
bedside. I screamed out and endeavoured to awake 
Sir Martin ; " For Heaven's sake," I exclaimed, " Lord 
Tyrone, by what means or for what reason came you 
hither at this time of night." " Have you then for- 
gotten our promise } " said he, " I died last Tuesday 
at four o'clock, and have been permitted by the 
Suprem.e Being to appear to you, to assure you that 
the revealed religion is the true, and the only religion 
by which we can be saved. I am further suffered to 
inform you that you will soon produce a son, which 
it is decreed will marry my daughter; not many 
years after his birth Sir Martin will die, and you will 
marry again, and to a man by whose ill-treatment you 



1 64 S/GATS BEFORE DEA TH, 

will be rendered miserable : you will have two daugh- 
ters, and afterwards a son, and you will die in the 
forty-seventh year of your age/' "Just Heavens!'' 
I exclaimed, "and cannot I prevent this?" "Un- 
doubtedly you may/' returned the spectre ; "you are 
a free agent, and may prevent it all by resisting every 
temptation to a second marriage ; but your passions 
are strong, you know not their power ; hitherto you 
have had no trials. More I am not permitted to re- 
veal, but, if after this warning you persist in your 
infidelity, your lot in another world will be miserable 
indeed!" "May I not ask," said I, "if you are 
happy ? " " Had I been otherwise," he replied, " I 
should not have been permitted to appear to you." 
*' I may then infer that you are happy } " He smiled. 
" But how," said I, " when morning comes, shall I 
know that your appearance to me has been real, and 
not the mere representation of my own imagination 1 " 
"Will not the news of my death be sufficient to con- 
vince you } " " No," I returned, " I might have had 
such a dream, and that dream accidentally come to 
pass. I will have some strong proofs of its reality." 
" You shall," said he, and waving his hand, the bed- 
curtains, which were crimson velvet were instantly 
drawn through a large iron hoop by which the tester 
of the bed was suspended. " In that," said he, " you 
cannot be mistaken ; no mortal arm could have per- 
formed this." " True," said I, " but sleeping we are 
often possessed of far more strength than when awake ; 
though waking I could not have done it, asleep I 
might; and shall still doubt." "Here is a pocket- 
book, in this," said he, "I will write my name: you 
know my handwriting." I replied, "Yes." He wrote 
with a pencil on one side of the leaves, "Still," said 
I, " in the morning I may doubt ; though waking I 
could not imitate your hand, asleep I might." "You 
are hard of belief," said he : " were I to touch you it 



APPARITION OF LORD TYRONE, l6S 

would injure you irreparably ; it is not for spirits to 
touch mortal flesh/' " I do not/' said I, " regard a 
slight blemish/' ^' You are a woman of courage/' re- 
plied he, '^ Hold out your hand/' I did so : he struck 
my wrist, his hand Vv^as cold as marble, and in a 
moment the sinews shrunk up, every nerve withered. 
" Now," said he, " while you live let no mortal eye be- 
hold that wrist : to see it is sacrilege/' He stopped ; 
I turned to him again ; he was gone. During the 
time I had conversed with him my thoughts were per- 
fectly calm and collected, but the moment he was 
gone I felt chilled with horror, the very bed moved 
under me ; I endeavoured, but in vain, to awake Sir 
Martin, all my attempts were ineff'ectual, and in this 
state of agitation and terror I lay for some time, when 
a shower of tears came to my relief, and I dropped 
asleep. In the morning. Sir Martin arose and dressed 
himself as usual without perceiving the state the cur- 
tains remained in. 

*When I awoke I found Sir Martin gone' down ; I 
arose, and having put on my clothes, w^ent to the 
gallery adjoining the apartment and took from thence 
a long broom (such as cornices are swept with), by 
the help of this I took down with some difficulty the 
curtains, as I imagined their extraordinary position 
might excite suspicion in the family. I then went to 
the bureau, took up my pocket-book, and bound a 
piece of black ribbon round my wrist. When I came 
down, the agitation of my mind had left an impression 
on my countenance too visible to pass unobserved by 
my husband. He instantly remarked it, and asked 
the cause ; I informed him that Lord Tyrone was no 
more, that he died at the hour of four on the preced- 
ing Tuesday, and desired him never to question me 
more respecting the black ribbon ; which he kindly 
desisted from after. You, my son, as had been fore- 
told, I afterwards brought into the world, and in little 



I ^^ SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

more than four years after your birth, your lamented 
father expired in my arms. 

'After this melancholy event, I determined, as the 
only probable chance to avoid the sequel of the pre- 
diction, for ever to abandon all society ; to give up 
every pleasure resulting from it, and to pass the rest 
of my days in solitude and retirement. But few can 
long endure to exist in a state of perfect sequestration: 
I began an intimacy with a family, and one alone ; 
nor could I then forsee the fatal consequences which 
afterwards resulted from' it. Little did I think their 
son, their only son, then a mere youth, would form 
the person destined by fate to prove my destruction. 
In a very few years I ceased to regard him with in- 
difference. I endeavoured by every possible way to 
conquer a passion, the fatal effects of which I too well 
knew. I had fondly imagined I had overcome its in- 
fluence, when the evening of one fatal day terminated 
my fortitude, and plunged me in a moment down that 
abyss I had so long been meditating to shun. He 
had often solicited his parents for leave to go into the 
army, and at last obtained permission, and came to 
bid me adieu before his departure. The instant he 
entered the room he fell upon his knees at my feet, 
told me he was miserable, and that I alone was the 
cause. At that moment my fortitude forsook me, I 
gave myself up for lost, and regarding my fate as in- 
evitable, without farther hesitation consented to a 
union, the immediate result of which I knew to be 
misery, and its end death. The conduct of my hus- 
band, after a few years, amply justified a separation, 
and I hoped by this means to avoid the fatal sequel 
of the prophecy ; but won over by his reiterated en- 
treaties, I was prevailed upon to pardon, and once 
more reside with him, though not till after I had, as I 
thought, passed my forty-seventh year. 

* But alas ! I have this day heard from indisputable 



APPARITION OF LORD TYRONE, 1 67 

authority, that I have hitherto lain under a mistake 
with regard to my age, and that I am but forty-seven 
to-day. Of the near approach of my death then I 
entertain not the slightest doubt. 

'When I am dead, as the necessity of concealment 
closes with my life, I could wish that you, Lady Betty, 
would unbind my wrist, take from thence the black 
ribbon, and let my son with yourself behold it' Lady 
Beresford here paused for some time, but resuming the 
conversation, she entreated her son would behave him- 
self so as to merit the high honour he would in future 
receive from a union with the daughter of Lord Tyrone. 

Lady B. then expressed a wish to lay down on the 
bed and endeavoured to compose herself to sleep. 
Lady Betty Cobb and her son immediately called her 
domestics and quitted the room, having first desired 
them to watch their mistress attentively, and if they 
observed the smallest change in her to call instantly. 

An hour passed, and all was quiet in the room. 
They listened at the door, and everything remained 
still, but in half an hour more a bell rang violently ; 
they flew to her apartment, but before they reached 
the door, they heard the servant exclaim, " Oh, she 
is dead ! " Lady Betty then bade the servants for a 
few minutes to quit the room, and herself with Lady 
Beresford s son approached the bed of his mother; 
they knelt down by the side of it ; Lady Betty then 
lifted up her hand and untied the ribbon ; the wrist 
was found exactly as Lady Beresford had described it, 
every sinew shrunk, every nerve withered. 

Lady Beresford's son, as had been predicted, is since 
married to Lord Tyrone's daughter. The black ribbon 
and pocket-book were formerly in the possession of 
Lady Betty Cobb, Marlborough Buildings, Bath, who 
during her life was ever ready to attest the truth of 
this narration, as also the whole of the Tyrone and 
Beresford families. — From H. Welby. 



1 68 SIGNS BEFORE DEATH. 

LXI. 

Two Apparitions to Mr. William Lilly. 

i'HE FOLLOWING AFFAIR EXCITED CONSIDERABLE INTEREST IN THE 
NORTH ABOUT THE MIDDLE OF THE LAST CENTURY. 

On the first Sunday in the year 1749, Mr. Thomas 
Lilly, the son of a farmer in the parish of Kelso in 
Roxburghshire, a young man intended for the Church 
of Scotland, remained at home to keep the house in 
company with a shepherd's boy, all the rest of the 
family, except a maid-servant, being at church. The 
young student and the boy being by the fire whilst 
the girl was gone to the well for water, a venerable 
old gentleman, clad in an antique garb, presented 
himself, and after some little ceremony, desired the 
student to take up the family bible which lay on a 
table, and turn over to a certain chapter and verse in 
the Second Book of Kings. The student did so, and 
read — " there is death in the pot.'' 

On this the old man, with much apparent agitatipn, 
pointed to the great family pot boiling on the fire, 
declaring that the maid had cast a great quantity of 
arsenic into it with an intent to poison the whole 
family, to the end she might rob the house of the 
hundred guineas which she knew her master had lately 
taken for sheep and grain which he had sold. Just 
as he was so saying the maid came to the door. The 
old gentleman said to the student, " remember my 
warning and save the lives of the family I" and that 
instant disappeared. 

The maid entered with a smiling countenance, 
emptied her pail, and returned to the well for a fresh 
supply. Meanwhile young Lilly put some oatmeal 
into a wooden dish, skimmed the pot of the fat and 
mixed it for what is called brose or croudy, and when 
the maid returned, he with the boy appeared busily 



TIVO APPARITIONS TO MR. WILLIAM LILLY. 1 69 

employed in eating the mixture. "Come, Peggy," 
said the student, " here is enough left for you ; are not 
you fond of croudy ? " She smiled, took up the dish, 
and reaching a horn spoon, withdrew to the back room. 
The shepherd's dog followed her, unseen by the boy, 
and the poor animal, on the croudy being put down 
by the maid, fell a victim to his voracious appetite ; 
for before the return of the family from church it was 
enormously swelled, and expired in great agony. 

The student enjoined the boy to remain quite pas- 
sive for the present ; meanwhile he attempted to shew 
his ingenuity by resolving the cause of the sudden 
death of the dog into insanity, in order to keep the 
girl in countenance till a fit opportunity of discovering 
the plot should present itself 

Soon after his father and family with the other ser- 
vants returned from church. 

The table was instantly replenished with wooden 
bowls and trenchers, while a heap of barley bannocks 
graced the top. The kail or broth, infused with leeks 
or winter-cabbages, was poured forth in plenty ; and 
Peggy, wdth a prodigal hand, filled all the dishes with 
the homely dainties of Teviotdale. The master began 
grace, and all hats and bonnets were instantly off; 
" O Lord," prayed the farmer, " we have been hearing 
thy word, from the mouth of thy aged servant Mr. 
Ramsay ; we have been alarmed by the awful famine 
in Samaria, and of death being in the pot ! " Here the 
young scholar interrupted his father, by exclaiming — 
" Yes sir, there is death in the pot now here, as well 
as there was once in Israel ! Touch not ! taste not ! 
see the dog dead by the poisoned pot !" 

" What ! " cried the farm.er, " have you been raising 
the devil by your conjuration.'^ Is this the effect of 
your study, sir.? " " No, father," said the student, " I 
pretend to no such arts of magic or necromancy, but 
this day, as the boy can testifiy, I had a solemn warn- 



170 SIGNS BEFORE DEATH. 

ing from one whom I take to be no demon, but a good 
angel. To him we all owe our lives. As to Peggy, 
according to his intimation, she has put poison into 
the pot for the purpose of destroying the whole family." 
Here the girl fell into a fit, from which being with some 
trouble recovered, she confessed the whole of her 
deadly design, and was suffered to quit the family and 
her native country. She was soon after executed at 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne for the murder of her illegiti- 
mate child, again making ample confession of the 
above diabolical design. 

In 1750, the same young Lilly was one day reading 
the 20th chapter of the Revelation of John the Divine ; 
just as he was entering upon that part which describes 
the angel binding the devil a thousand years, " after 
which he was to be loosed a little ; " a very venerable 
personage appeared at his elbow. The young man fell 
on the floor, but quickly arose, and in the name of the 
Lord demanded who he was and the nature of his 
business. Upon this the following colloquy ensued : — 

Lilly, — Shall I call thee Satan, the crooked serpent, 
the Devil, Beelzebub, or Lucifer son of the morning. 

Appar, — I am a messenger from the dead, to see or 
to cause justice to be done to thee and thy father, I 
am the spirit of one of thy ancestors ! 

Lilly. — Art thou the soul of my grandfather, who, 
amidst immense riches, perished for want of food t 

Appar, — Thou art right. Money was my deity, and 
Mammon my master : I heaped up gold, but did not 
enjoy it. 

Lilly. — I have frequently heard my father mention 
you as a sordid, avaricious, miserable man. How did 
you dispose of the immense riches which you are said 
to have accumulated } 

Appar.— \t is, for the most part, hidden in a field 
in the farm of your father, and I intend that you, his 
son, should be the sole possessor of it, without suffer- 



TPFO APPARITIONS TO MR. WILLIAM LILLY. I/I 

ing your father to know from whence you riches origi- 
nated. Do not you recognize my face since the 
beginning of the last year ? 

Lilly. — Are you the old gentleman whose timely 
intelligence saved the lives of all our family ? 

Appar. — I am. Therefore think not your father ill 
rewarded already. 

Lilly. — How can I account to him for the immediate 
accumulation of so much money as you seem to inti- 
mate .? 

Appar. — Twenty thousand pounds sterling money ! 

Lilly. — You seem even now in your disembodied 
state to feel much emotion at the mention of so much 
money. 

Appar. — But now I cannot touch the money of mor- 
tals. But I cannot stay : follow me to the field, and 
I will point out the precise place where you are to 
dig. 

Here the apparation stalked forth round the barn 

yard, and Lilly followed him, till he came to a field 

' about three furlongs from his father's door, when the 

apparation stood still on a certain spot, wheeled thrice 

round, and vanished into air. 

This proved to be the precise place which young 
Lilly and his companions had often devoted to pas- 
time, being a hollow whence stone had formerly been 
dug. He lost but little time in consideration, and 
having procured a pick-axe and a spade, he set to 
work and discovered the treasure. His immense wealth 
enabled him to perform many acts of charity in that 
country, as many can testify to this day. 

The pots in which the money, consisting of large 
pieces of gold and silver, were deposited, have often 
been shewn as curiosities hardly to be equalled in the 
south of Scotland. — World of Spirits, i'j<^6. 



172 SIGNS BEFORE DEATH. 

LXII. 

Apparition of Mr, Thomkins to the Rev. Mr, Warren. 

Mr. John Warren, minister of Hatfield-Broadoak, in 
Essex, a worthy and pious man, was one day in his 
garden reading Bunyan's ''Publican and Pharisee," 
when he was accosted by a neighbour, who entered into 
discourse with him upon the words, ''Shall a man be 
more righteous than his Maker ? " Mr. Warren's dis- 
course in general ran upon the promises, while Mr. 
Thomkins, his neighbour, chiefly urged the threaten- 
ings of God. At length Mr. Warren's servant came 
and informed him the dinner was ready and his mis- 
tress waited for him : he asked his neighbour Thom- 
kins to dine with him, which the latter, with tears in 
his eyes, refused, saying, "my time is come, and I 
must away." 

Mr. Warren was proceeding to expostulate with his 
friend Thomkins, when the servant repeated the mes- 
age, urging that a neighbour had sent for him to go 
immediately to a case of great inportance and im- 
minent danger. Mr. Warren withdrawing towards 
the house, still continued the discourse upon the former 
subject, comforting his friend till he arrived at the 
door, when entering first, he left the door open that 
Mr. Thomkins might follow ; but nobody coming in 
he went directly and sought him all over his garden, 
but found him not, which much disturbed his mind 
then, and much more soon afterwards, when he found 
that his neighbour and friend Thomkins was just ex- 
pired, and had not been out of his house, according 
to every testimony, that day. Mr. Warren's servant 
testified seeing her master in conversation with a person 
in the garden, and telling her mistress so, who wondered 
she had seen nobody go through the house, as there 
was no other way into the garden. Mr. Warren, a 



STRANGE EXPERIENCES. 173 

pious and sensible divine, often related this to Mr. 
Goodman, who recites it in his work, entitled " Winter- 
Evening Conferences between Neighbours." — World 
of Spirits. 

LXIII. 

Strange Experiences of the Wesley Family at Epworth. 

FROM THE NARRATIVE PREPARED BY THE REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

"When I was very young, I heard several letters read, 
wrote to my elder brother by my father, giving an ac- 
count of strange disturbances which were in his house 
at Epworth, in Lincolnshire. 

" When I went down thither in the year 1720, 1 care- 
fully inquired into the particulars. I spoke to each 
of the persons who were then in the house, and took 
down what each could testify of his or her own know- 
ledge. The sum of which was this : 

*' On December 2, 1716, while Rober tBrown, my 
fathers servant, was sitting with one of the maids a 
little before ten at night in the dining-room, which 
opened into the garden, they both heard one knock- 
ing at the door. Robert rose and opened it, but 
could see nobod}^ Quickly it knocked again, and 
groaned. " It is Mr. Turpine," said Robert; "he has 
the stone and used to groan so." He opened the door 
again twice or thrice, the knocking being twice or 
thrice repeated. But still seeing nothing, and being a 
little startled, they rose and went up to their bed- 
rooms. When Robert came to the top of the garret 
stairs, he saw a hand mill, which was at a distance, 
whirled about very swiftly. When he related this, he 
said, " Nought vexed me, but that it was empty. I 
thought if it had but been full of malt he might have 
ground his heart out for me." When he was in bed, 
he heard as it were the- gobbling of a turkey-cock 



t74 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

close to the bed-side; and soon after the sound of one 
stumbling over his shoes and boots, but there were 
none there ; he had left them below. The next day, 
he and the maid related these things to the other maid, 
who laughed heartily and said, " What a couple of 
fools you are ! I defy anything to frighten me." After 
churning in the evening, she put the butter in the tray, 
and had no sooner carried it into the dairy, than she 
heard a knocking on the shelf where several pun- 
cheons of milk stood, first above the shelf, then below; 
she took the candle and searched both above and 
below ; but being unable to find anything, threw down 
butter, tray, and all, and ran away as for her life. 

^^The next evening between five and six o'clock, my 
sister Molly, then about twenty years of age, sitting in 
the dining-room reading, heard as if it were the door 
that led into the hall open, and a person walking in, 
that seemed to have on a silk night-gown, rustling and 
trailing along. It seemed to walk round her, then to 
the door, then round again : but she could see nothing. 
She thought, "it signifies nothing to run away; for 
whatever it is, it can run faster than me." So she rose, 
put her book under her arm, and walked slowly away. 
After supper, she was sitting with my sister Suky 
(about a year older than her), in one of the chambers, 
and telling her what had happened ; she quite made 
light of it, telling her, " I wonder you are so easily- 
frighted ; I would fain see what would fright me." 
Presently a knocking began under the table. She 
took the candle and looked, but could find nothing. 
Then the iron casement began to clatter, and the lid 
of a warming pan. Next the latch of the door moved 
up and down without ceasing. She started up, leaped 
into bed without undressing, pulled the bed clothes 
over her head, and never ventured to look up till next 
morning. 

*' A night or two after, my sister Hetty, a year 



STRANGE EXPERIENCES, 1/5 

younger than my sister Molly, was waiting as usual 
between nine and ten, to take away my father's candle, 
when she heard one coming down the garret stairs, 
walking slowly by her, then going down the best stairs, 
then up the back stairs, and up the garret stairs. And 
at every step it seemed the house shook from top to 
bottom. Just then my father knocked. She went in, 
took his candle, and got to bed as fast as possible. 
In the morning she told this to my eldest sister, who 
told her, ** You know, I believe none of these things. 
Pray let me take away the candle to-night and I will 
find out the trick." She accordingly took my sister 
Hetty's place, and had no sooner taken away the 
candle, than she heard a noise below. She hastened 
down stairs to the hall where the noise was. But it 
was then in the kitchen. She ran into the kitchen, 
where it was drumming on the inside of the screen. 
When she went round it was drumming on the out- 
side, and so always on the side opposite to her. Then 
she heard a knocking at the back kitchen door. She 
ran to it, unlocked it softly, and when the knocking 
was repeated, suddenly opened it ; but nothing was 
to be seen. As soon as she had shut it, the knocking 
began again ; she opened it again, but could see noth- 
ing ; when she went to shut the door it was violently 
thrust against her ; she let it fly open, but nothing 
appeared. She went again to shut it, and it was again 
thrust against her ; but she set her knee and her 
shoulder to the door, forced it to, and turned the key. 
Then the knocking began again ; but she let it go on, 
and went up to bed. However, from that time she 
was thoroughly convinced that there was no impos- 
ture in the affair. 

" The next morning, my sister telling my mother 
what had happened, she said, *' If I hear anything 
myself, I shall know how to judge." Soon after, she 
begged her to come into the nursery. She did, and 



1 76 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

heard in the corner of the room, as it were the violent 
rocking of a cradle ; but no cradle had been there for 
some years. She was convinced it was preternatural, 
and earnestly prayed it might not disturb her in her- 
own chamber at the hours of retirement ; and it never 
did. She now thought it was proper to tell my father. 
But he was extremely angry, and said, " Suky, I am 
ashamed of you ; these boys and girls fright one 
another, but you are a woman of. sense and should 
know better. Let me hear of it no more." At six in 
the evening, he had family prayers as usual. When 
he began the prayer for the King, a knocking began: 
all round the room, and a thundering knock attended 
the Amen. The same was heard from this time every 
morning and evening, while prayers for the King was 
repeated. As both my father and mother are now at 
rest, and incapable of being pained thereby, I think it 
is my duty to furnish the serious reader with a key to 
this circumstance. 

"The year before King William died, my father ob- 
served my mother did not say Amen to the prayer 
for the King. She said she could not ; for she did not 
believe the Prince of Orange was King. He vowed 
he never would cohabit with her till she did. He 
then took his horse and rode away, nor did sht 
hear anything of him for a twelvemonth. He then 
came back and lived with her as before. But I fear 
his vow was not forgotten before God. 

^•' Being informed that Mr. Hoole, the vicar of Haxey 
(an eminently pious and sensible man), could give me 
some farther information, I walked over to him. He 
said, " Robert Brown came over to me and told me 
your father desired my company. When I came, he 
gave me an account of all that had happened, particu- 
larly the knocking during family prayer. But that 
evening (to my great satisfaction) we had no knock- 
ing at all. But between nine and ten, a servant came 



STRANGE EXPERIENCES. 1/7 

in and said, 'Old Jefferies is coming' (that was the 
name of one that died in the house), ' for I hear the 
signal.' This they informed me was heard every night 
about a quarter before ten. It was toward the top of 
the house on the outside, at the north-east corner, re- 
sembling the loud creaking of a saw, or rather that of 
a windmill, when the body of it is turned about, in 
order to shift the sails to the wind. We then heard a 
knocking over our heads, and Mr. Wesley catching 
up a candle, said, ' Come, sir, now you shall hear for 
yourself.' We went up stairs ; he with much hope, 
and I (to say the truth) with much fear. When we 
came into the nursery, it was knocking in the next 
room ; when we were there, it was knocking in the 
nursery. And there it continued to knock, though 
we came in, particularly at the head of the bed (which 
was of wood) in which Miss Hetty and two of her 
younger sisters lay. Mr. Wesley, observing that they 
were much affected though asleep, sweating, and 
trembling exceedingly, was very angry, and pulling 
out a pistol, was going to fire at the place from whence 
the sound came. But I catched him by the arm, and 
said, ^ Sir, you are convinced this is something super- 
natural. If so, you cannot hurt it ; but you give it 
power to hurt you.' He then went close to the place 
and said sternly, ' Thou deaf and dumb devil, why 
dost though fright these children 1 Come to me in 
my study that am a man ! ' Instantly it knocked his 
knock (the particular knock which he always used at 
the gate) as if it would shiver the boards in pieces, 
and we heard nothing more that night." Till this 
time my father had never heard the least disturbances 
in his study. But the next evening as he attempted 
to go into his study (of which none had any key but 
himself), when he opened the door, it was thrown back 
with such violence, as had like to have thrown him 
down. However, he thrust the door open and went 

12 



178 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

in. Presently there was knocking first on one side, 
then on the other ; and after a time in the next room, 
wherein my sister Nancy was. He went into that 
room, and (the noise continuing) adjured it to speak; 
but in vain. He then said, " These spirits love dark- 
ness : put out the candle, and perhaps it will speak ; " 
she did so, and he repeated his adjuration; but still 
there was only knocking, and no articulate sound. 
Upon this he said, '' Nancy, two Christians are an 
overmatch for the devil. Go all of you down stairs ; 
it may be, when I am alone, he will have the cour- 
age to speak." When she was gone, a thought came 
in, and he said, " If thou art the spirit of my son 
Samuel, I pray knock three knocks and no more." 
Immediately all was silence, and there was no more 
knocking at all that night. I asked my sister Nancy 
(then about fifteen years old) whether she was not 
afraid, when my father used that adjuration } She 
answered, she was sadly afraid it would speak when 
she put out the candle ; but she was not at all afraid 
in the day time when it walked after her as she swept 
the chambers, as it constantly did, and seemed to 
sweep after her ; only she thought he might have done 
it for her, and saved her the trouble. By this time all 
my sisters were so accustomed to these noises, that 
they gave them little disturbance. A gentle tapping 
at their bed's head usually began between nine and 
ten at night. They then commonly said to each 
other, '' Jeffery is coming; it is time to go to sleep.'' 
And if they heard a noise in the day, and said to my 
youngest sister, " Hark, Kezzy, Jefifery is knocking 
above," she would run up stairs and pursue it from 
room to room, saying, she desired no better diversion. 
" A few nights after, my father and mother were just 
gone to bed, and the candle was not taken away, when 
they heard three blows, and a second and a third three, 
as it were with a large oaken staff, struck upon a chest 



STRANGE EXPERIENCES, 1/9 

which stood by the bedside. My father immediately 
arose, put on his night-gown, and hearing great noises 
below, took the candle and went down : my mother 
walked by his side. As they went down the broad 
stairs, they heard as if a vessel full of silver was poured 
upon my mothers breast, and ran jingling down to 
her feet. Quickly after there was a sound, as if a large 
iron ball was thrown among many bottles under the 
stairs ; but nothing was hurt. Soon after, our large 
mastiff dog came and ran to shelter himself between 
them. While the disturbances continued, he used to 
bark and leap, and snap on one side and the other ; 
and that frequently before any person in the room 
heard any noise at all. But after two or three days, 
he used to tremble, and creep away before the noise 
began. And by this, the family knew it was at hand ; 
nor did the observation ever fail. A little before my 
father and mother came into the hall, it seemed as if 
a very large coal was violently thrown upon the floor 
and dashed all in pieces ; but nothing was seen. My 
father then cried out, '' Suky, do you not hear } All 
the pewter is thrown about the kitchen." But when 
they looked, all the pewter stood in its place. There 
then was a loud knocking at the back door. My father 
opened it, but saw nothing. It was then at the fore- 
door. He opened that : but it was still lost labour. 
After opening first the one, then the other several times, 
he turned and went up to bed. But the noises were so 
violent all over the house, that he could not sleep till 
four in the morning. 

" Several gentlemen and clergymen now earnestly 
advised my father to quit the house, but he con- 
stantly answered, " No ; let the devil flee from me ; I 
will never flee from the devil.'' But he wrote to my 
eldest brother at London to come down. He was 
preparing so to do, when another letter came, inform- 
ing him the disturbances were over, after they had 



1 80 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 

continued (the latter part of the time day and night) 
from the second of December to the end of January/' 

An author who in this age relates such a story, and 
treats it as not utterly incredible and absurd, must ex- 
pect to be ridiculed, and very justly ; but the testimony 
upon which it rests is far too strong to be set aside 
because of the strangeness of the relation. The letters 
which passed at the time between Samuel Wesley and 
the family at Epw^orth, the journal which Mr. Wesley 
kept of these remarkable transactions, and the evidence 
concerning them which John afterwards collected, fell 
into the hands of Dr. Priestley, and were published by 
him as being '' perhaps the best authenticated and 
best told story of the kind that is anywhere extant.'' 
He observes in favour of the story, ^^ that all the parties 
seem to have been sufficiently void of fear, and also 
free from credulity, except the general belief that such 
things were supernatural." 

We give the most important and circumstantial of 
the family letters relating to this subject. The MS. 
is the handwriting of Mr. S. Wesley. The titles of 
the letters, denoting the wTiters and the persons to 
whom they were written, are only added. 

To Mr, Samuel Wesley^ fro?n his Mother, 

January 12, 1 716-7. 

Dear Sam, — This evening we were agreeably sur- 
prised with your pacquet, which brought the welcome 
news of your being alive, after we had been in the 
greatest panic imaginable, almost a month, thinking 
either you was dead, or one of your brothers by some 
misfortune been killed. 

The reason of our fears is as follows. On the first 
of December our maid heard at the door of the din- 
ing-room several dismal groans, like a person in 
extremes, at the point of death. We gave little heed 
to her relation, and endeavoured to laugh her out of 



STRANGE EXPERIENCES. l8l 

her fears. Some nights (two or three) after, several 
of the family heard a strange knocking in divers 
places, usually three or four knocks at a time, and 
then stayed a little. This continued every night for 
a fortnight ; sometimes it was in the garret, but most 
commonly in the nursery or green chamber. We all 
heard it but your father, and I was not willing he should 
be informed of it, lest he should fancy it was against 
his own death, which, indeed, we all apprehended. 
But when it began to be so troublesome both day 
and night, that few or none of the family durst be 
alone, I resolved to tell him of it, being minded he 
should speak to it. At first he would not believe but 
somebody did it to alarm us ; but the night after, as 
soon as he was in bed, it knocked loudly nine times, 
just by his bed-side. He rose, and went to see if he 
could find out what it was, but could see nothing. 
Afterwards he heard it as the rest. 

One night it made such a noise in the room over 
our heads as if several people were walking, then run 
up and down stairs, and was so outrageous that we 
thought the children would be frighted, so your father 
and I rose, and went down in the dark to light a 
candle. Just as we came to the bottom of the broad 
stairs, having hold of each other, on my side there 
seemed as if sombody had emptied a bag of money 
at my feet ; and on his, as if all the bottles under the 
stairs (which were many) had been dashed in a 
thousand pieces. We passed through the hall into 
the kitchen and got a candle, and went to see the 
children, whom w^e found asleep. 

The next night your father would get Mr. Hoole to 
lie at our house, and we all sat together till one or 
two o'clock in the morning, and heard the knocking 
as usual. Sometimes it would make a noise like the 
winding up of a jack, at other times, as that night Mr. 
Hoole was with us, like a carpenter planing deals ; but 



1 82 SIGNS BEFORE DEA Tff, 

most commonly it knocked thrice and stopped, and 
then thrice again, and so many hours together. We 
persuaded your father to speak, and try if any voice 
would be heard. One night about six o'clock he 
went into the nursery in the dark, and at first heard 
several deep groans, then knocking. He adjured it 
to speak if it had the power, and tell him why it 
troubled his house, but no voice was heard, but it 
knocked thrice aloud. Then he questioned it if it 
were Sammy, and bid it, if it were and could not 
speak, knock again, but it knocked no more that 
night, which made us hope it was not against your 
death. 

Thus it continued till the 28th of December, when 
it loudly knocked (as your father used to do at the 
gate) in the nursery, and departed. We have various 
conjectures what this may mean. For my own part, 
I fear nothing now you are safe at London hitherto, 
and I hope God will still preserve you. Though 
sometimes I am inclined to think my brother is dead. 
Let me know your thoughts on it <- vy 

From Miss Susannah Wesley to her Brother Samuel. 

Epworth, Jan. 24. 

Dear Brother, — About the first of December, a 
most terrible and astonishing noise was heard by a 
maid-servant, as at the dining-room door, which 
caused the up-starting of her hair, and made her ears 
prick forth at an unusual rate. She said it was like 
the groans of one expiring. These so frighted her, 
that for a great while she durst not go out of one 
room into another, after it began to get dark, without 
company. But, to lay aside jesting, which should not 
be done in serious matters, I assure you that from the 
first to the last of a lunar month, the groans, squeaks, 
tinglings, and knockings, were frightful enough. 



STRANGE EXPERIENCES. 1 83 

Though it is needless for me to send you any 
account of what we all heard, my father himself 
having a larger account of the matter than I am able 
to give, which he designs to send you ; yet in com- 
pliance with your desire, I will tell you as briefly as I 
can, what I heard of it. The first night I ever heard 
it, my sister Nancy and I were sitting in the dining- 
room. We heard something rush on the outside of 
the doors that opened into the garden, then three 
loud knocks immediately after other three, and in 
half a minute the same number over our head. We 
enquired whether any body had been in the garden, 
or in the room above us, but there was nobody. Soon 
after, my sister Molly and I were up after all the 
family were a-bed (except my sister Nancy) about 
some business. We heard three bouncing thumps 
under our feet, which soon made us throw away our 
work, and tumble into bed. Afterwards the tingling 
of the latch and warming pan, and so it took its leave 
that night. 

Soon after the above mentioned, we heard a noise 
as if a great piece of sounding metal was thrown down 
on the outside of our chamber. We, lying in the 
quietest part of the house, heard less than the rest for 
a pretty while, but the latter end of the night that 
Mr. Hoole sat up on, I lay in the nursery, where it 
was very violent. I then heard frequent knocks over 
and under the room where I lay, and at the children's 
bed head, which was made of boards. It seemed to 
rap against it very hard and loud, so that the bed 
shook under them. I heard something walk by my 
bedside, like a man in a long night-gown. The 
knocks were so loud that Mr. Hoole came out of 
their chamber to us. It still continued. My father 
spoke, but nothing answered. It ended that night 
with my father's particular knock, very fierce. 

It is now pretty quiet, only at our repeating the 



184 SIGNS BEFORE DEATH, 

prayers for the king and prince, when it usually 
begins, especially when my father says, ''' Our most 
gracious Sovereign Lord," &c. This my father is 
angry at, and designs to say three instead of two for 
the royal family. We all heard the same noise, and 
at the same time, and as coming from the same place. 
To conclude this, it now makes its personal appear- 
ance : but of this more hereafter. Do not say one word 
of this to our folk, nor give the least hint. 

I am. 
Your sincere friend and affectionate Sister, 

Susannah Wesley. 

Fiwn Miss Emily Wesley to her Brother Samuel, 

Dear Brother, — I thank you for your last, and 
shall give you what satisfaction is in my power, con- 
cerning what has happened in our family. I am so 
far from being superstitious, that I was too much 
inclined to infidelity ; so that I heartily rejoice at 
having such an opportunity of convincing myself 
past doubt or scruple, of the existence of some beings 
besides those we see. A whole month was sufficient 
to convince any body of the reality of the thing, and 
to try all ways of discovering any trick, had it been 
possible for any such to have been used. I shall only 
tell you what I myself heard, and leave the rest to 
others. 

My sisters in the paper chamber had heard noises, 
and told me of them, but I did not much believe, till 
one night, about a week after the first groans were 
heard, which was the beginning, just after the clock 
had struck ten, I went down stairs to lock the doors, 
which I always do. Scarce had I got up the best 
stairs, when I heard a noise, like a person throwing 
down a vast coal in the middle of the fore kitchen, 
and all the splinters seemed to fly about from it. I 



STRANGE EXPERIENCES. 1 85 

was not much frightened, but went to my sister Suky, 
and we together went all over the low rooms, but 
there was nothing out of order. 

Our dog was fast asleep, and our only cat in the 
other end of the house. No sooner was I got up stairs, 
and undressing for bed, but I heard a noise among 
many bottles that stand under the best stairs, just 
like the throwing of a great stone among them, which 
had broken them all to pieces. This made me hasten 
to bed ; but my sister Hetty, who sits always to wait 
on my father going to bed, was still sitting on the 
lowest step on the garret stairs, the door being shut 
at her back, when soon after there came down the 
stairs behind her something like a man, in a loose 
night-gown trailing after him, which made her fly 
rather than run to me in the nursery. 

iVU this time we never- told our father of it, but 
soon after we did. He smiled, and gave no answer, 
but was more careful than usual, from that time, to 
see us in bed, imagining it to be some of us young 
women that sat up late and made a noise. His in- 
credulity, and especially his imputing it to us or our 
lovers, made me, I own, desirous of its continuance till 
he was convinced. As for my mother, she firmly be- 
lieved it to be rats, and sent for a horn to blow them 
away. I laughed to think how wisely they were em- 
ployed, who were striving half a day to fright away 
Jeffery, for that name I gave it, with a horn. 

But whatever it was, I perceived it could be made 
angry ; for from that time it was so outrageous there 
was no quiet for us after ten at night, I heard fre- 
quently between ten and eleven something like the 
quick winding up of a jack, at the corner of the room 
by my bed's head, just like therunningof the wheels and 
the creaking of the ironwork. This was the common 
signal of its coming. Then it would knock on the 
floor three times, then at my sister's bed's head, in the 



1 86 SIGNS BEFORE DEA Tff. 

same room, almost always three together, and then 
stay. The sound was hollow and loud, so as none of 
us could ever imitate. 

It would answer to my mother if she stamped on 
the floor and bid it. It would knock when I was 
putting the children to bed, just under me where I 
sat. One time little Kesy, pretending to scare Patty 
as I was undressing them, stamped with her foot on 
the floor, and immediately it answered with three 
knocks just in the same place. It was more loud and 
fierce if any one said it was rats, or anything natural. 

I could tell you abundance more of it, but the rest 
will write, and therefore it would be needless. I was 
not much frighted at first, and very little at last ; but 
it was never near me, except two or three times, and 
never followed me, as it did my sister Hetty. I have 
been with her when it has knocked under her, and 
when she has removed has followed, and still kept 
just under her feet, which was enough to terrify a 
stouter person. 

If you would know my opinion of the reason of 
this, I shall briefly tell you. I believe it to be witch- 
craft, for these reasons. About a year since there 
was a disturbance at a town near us that was un- 
doubtedly witches ; and if so near, why may they not 
reach us } Then my father had for several Sundays 
before its coming preached warmly against consulting 
those that are called cunning men, which our people 
are given to ; and it had a particular spite at my father. 

Besides, something was thrice seen. The first time 
by my mother, under my sisters bed, like a badger, 
only without any head that was discernible. The 
same creature was sat by the dining-room fire one 
evening: when our man went into the room, it run 
by him, through the hall under the stairs. He followed 
with a candle, and searched, but it was departed. The 
last time he saw it in the kitchen, like a white rabbit, 



STRANGE EXPERIENCES. 187 

which seems likely to be some witch ; and I do so 
really believe it to be one, that I would venture to fire 
a pistol at it if I saw it long enough. It has been 
heard by me and others since December. I have filled 
up all my room, and have only time to tell you, I am, 
Your loving sister, 

Emily Wesley. 



Addenda to (mid from) my Father's Diary, 

Friday, December 21. — Knocking I heard first, I 
think, this night : to which disturbance I hope God 
will in his good time put an end. 

Sunday, December 23. — Not much disturbed with 
the noises that are now grown customary to me. 

Wednesday, December 26. — Sat up to hear noises. 
Strange ! spoke to it, knocked ofif. 

Friday, 28. — The noises very boisterous and disturb- 
ing this night. 

Saturday, 29. — Not frighted with the continued dis- 
turbance of my family. 

Tuesday, January i, 1717. — My family have had no 
disturbance since I went. 



Of the General Circumsta?tces which follow^ most^ if not all 
the family were freqiwit Witnesses. 

1. Presently after any noise was heard, the wind 
commonly rose, and whistled very loud round the 
house, and increased with it. 

2. The signal was given, which my father likens to 
the turning round of a windmill when the wind changes: 
Mr. Hoole (Rector of Haxey) to the planing of deal 
boards ; my sister to the swift winding up of a jack. 
It commonly began at the corner of the top of the 
nursery. 

3. Before it came into any room, the latches were 



1 88 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

frequently lifted up, the windows clattered, and what- 
ever iron or brass was about the chamber, rung and 
jarred exceedingly. 

4. When it was in any room, let them make what 
noise they would, as they sometimes did on purpose, 
its dead hollow note would be clearly heard above 
them all. 

5. It constantly knocked when the prayers for the 
King and Prince were being repeated, and was plainly 
heard by all in the room, but my father, and some- 
times by him, as were also the thundering knocks at 
the Amen. 

6. The sound very often seemed in the air in the 
middle of a room, nor could they ever make any such 
themselves by any contrivance. 

7. Though it seemed to rattle down the pewter, to 
clap the doors, draw the curtains, kick the man's shoes 
up and down, &c., yet it never moved anything except 
the latches, otherwise than making it tremble ; unless 
once, when it threw open the nursery door. 

8. The mastiff, though he barked violently at it the 
first day he came, yet whenever it came after that, 
nay, sometimes before the family perceived it, he ran 
whining, or quite silent, to shelter himself behind some 
of the company. 

9. It never came by day, till my mother ordered 
the horn to be blown. 

10. After that time scarce anyone could go from 
one room into another but the latch of the room they 
went to was lifted up before they touched it. 

11. It never came once into my father's study, till 
he talked to it sharply, called it deaf and dumb devil, 
and bid it cease to disturb the innocent children, and 
come to him in his study, if it had anything to say to 
him. 

12. From the time of my mother's desiring it not to 
disturb her from five to six, it was never heard in her 



STRANGE EXPERIENCES, 1 89 

chamber from five till she came down stairs, nor at 
any other time, when she was employed in devotion. 
1 3. Whether our clock went right or wrong, it always 
came, as near as could be guessed, when by the night 
it wanted a quarter of ten. 



The Rev. Mr. Hooles Account. 

Sept. 10. 

As soon as I came to Epworth, Mr. Wesley telling 
me he sent for me to conjure, I knew not what he 
meant, till some of your sisters told me what had 
happened, and that I was sent for to sit up. I expected 
every hour, it being then about noon, to hear some- 
thing extraordinary, but to no purpose. At supper, too, 
and at prayers, all was silent, contrary to custom ; but 
soon after, one of the maids who went up to sheet a 
bed, brought the alarm that Jeffery was come above 
stairs. We all went up, and as we were standing 
round the fire in the east chamber, something began 
knocking just on the other side of the wall, on the 
chimney-piece, as with a key. Presently the knock- 
ing was under our feet, Mr. Wesley and I went down, 
he with great a deal of hope, and I with fear. As soon 
as we were in the kitchen, the sound was above us, in 
the room we had left. We returned up the narrow 
stairs, and heard at the broad stairs head some one 
slaring with their feet (all the family being now in bed 
beside us) and then trailing, as it were, and rustling 
with a silk night-gown. Quickly it was in the nursery 
at the bed's head, knocking as it had done at first, 
three by three. Mr. Wesley spoke to it, and said he 
believed it was the devil, and soon after it knocked at 
the window, and changed its sound into one like the 
planing of boards. From thence it went on the out- 
ward south-side of the house, sounding fainter and 
fainter, till it was heard no more. 



1 90 SIGN'S BEFORE BE A TH, 

I was no other time than this during the noises at 
Epworth, and do not now remember any more circum- 
stances than these. — See Southefs Life of V/esley. 



LXIV. 

Dr. Pitcairne's Dream. 

Doctor Pitcairne is said never to have related this 
story without some emotion of spirit. His friend Mr. 
Lindesey upon reading with the doctor, when very 
young, the known story of the two platonic philoso- 
phers who promised to one another that whoever died 
first should return a visit to his surviving companion, 
entered into the same engagement with him. Some 
years after, Pitcairne at his father's house in Fife 
dreamed one morning that Lindesey, who was then at 
Paris, came to him and told him that he was not dead 
as w^as commonly reported, but still alive, and livmg 
in a very pleasant place, to which he could not as yet 
carry him. By the next post news came of Lindesey's 
death, which happened very suddenly on the morning 
of the dream. — Fro7n H, Welby. 

LXV. 

Apparition of Ficinus to Michael Mercato. 

RELATED BY BARONILJS. 

Ficinus and Mercato, after a long discourse on the 
nature of the soul, had agreed that whoever of the 
two should die first, should if possible appear to his 
surviving friend, and inform him of his condition in the 
other world. 

A short time afterwards, says Baronius* it happened 

* Baronii Annales. — This story was told to Baronius by the grandson 
of Mercato, who was prothonotary of the Church, and a man of the 
greatest probity as well as of general knowledge. 



APPARITIONS A T POP TNEDO WN BRIDGE, 1 9 1 

that while Michael Mercarto the elder was studying 
philosophy, early one morning he suddenly heard the 
noise of a horse galloping in the street, which stopped 
at his door, when the voice of his friend Ficinus was 
heard exclaiming—" O Michael ! O Michael ! those 
things are true." Astonished at his address, Mer- 
cato rose and looked out of the window, where he 
saw the back of his friend, who was dressed in white, 
and galloping away on a white horse. He called after 
him, and followed him with his eyes till the appear- 
ance vanished. Upon inquiry he learned that Ficinus 
had died at Florence at the very time when the vision 
was presented to Mercato, at a considerable distance.. 
— From H. Welby, 



LXVI. 

Apparitions seen at Portnedown Bridge after the Irish 

Massacre ; 

BEING COPIES OF THE EVIDENCE PRODUCED BY SIR JOHN TEMPLE. 

1. James Shaw, of Market Hill in the County of 
Armagh, innkeeper, deposeth, that many of the Irish 
rebels in the time of this deponent's restraint, and 
while he was staying among them, told him very often, 
and it was a common report, that all those who lived 
about the Bridge of Portnedown were so affrighted 
with the cries and noise made there of some spirits or 
visions demanding revenge, as that they durst not 
stay, but fled away thence affrighted to Market Hill, 
saying they durst not return thither for fear of those 
cries and spirits, but took grounds and made creachs, 
in or near the parish of Mulabrac. 

Jurat, August 14, 1642. 

2. Joan, the relict of Gabriel Constable, late of Dur- 
mant, in the County of Armagh, gent, deposeth and 



192 SIGNS BEFORE DEATH, 

saith, that she often heard the rebels, Owen O'Farren, 
Patrick O'Connellaa, and divers others of the rebels at 
Durmant, earnestly say, protest, and tell one another, 
that the blood of some of those that were knocked on 
the head and afterwards drowned at Portnedown Bridge 
still remained on the bridge, and would not be washed 
away ; and that often there appeared visions or appa- 
ritions, sometimes of men, sometimes of women, breast- 
high above the water, at or near Portnedown, which 
did most extremely and fearfully screech and cry out 
for vengeance against the Irish that had murdered their 
bodies there : and that their cries and screeches did so 
terrify the Irish thereabouts, that none durst stay or 
live longer there, but fled and removed farther into 
the country; that this was common report amongst 
the rebels there, and that it passed for a truth amongst 
them, for any thing she could ever observe to the 
contrary. 

Jurat, Jannary I, 1643. 

3. Katherine, the relict of William Coke, late of the 
County of Armagh, carpenter, sworn and examined, 
saith that, about the tw^entieth of December, 1641, a 
great number of rebels in that county did most bar- 
barously drown at that time one hundred and eighty 
Protestants, men, women, and children, in that river, 
at the Bridge of Portnedown ; and that, about nine 
days afterwards, she saw a vision or spirit in the shape 
of a man as she apprehended, standing in that river, 
in the place of the drowning, bolt upright, heart high, 
with hands lifted up, where it remained until the latter 
end of Lent next following ; about which time some 
of the English army marching in those parts, whereof 
her husband was one (as he and they confidently 
affirmed to the deponent), saw that same spirit or 
vision standing upright in the posture aforementioned ; 
but after that time the said spirit or vision vanished, 



A PPARITIONS A T FOR TNEDO WN BRIDGE. 1 93 

and appeared no more that she knoweth. And she 
heard, but saw not, that there were other visions and 
apparitions, and much screeching and strange noises 
heard in that river at times afterwards. 

Jurat, February 24, 1643. 

4. Eh'zabeth, the wife of Captain Rice Price, of 
Armagh, deposeth and saith that she and other women, 
whose husbands w^ere murderers, hearing of divers ap- 
paritions and visions that were seen near Portnedown^ 
Bridge, since the drowning of her children and the rest 
of the Protestants there, went unto the aforesaid bridge 
about twilight in the evening ; then there appeared 
unto them, upon a sudden, a vision or spirit in the 
shape of a woman standing waist high upright in the 
water, naked, with elevated and closed hands, her hair 
hanging down very white, her eyes seeming to twinkle, 
and her skin as white as snow ; which spirit seemed to 
stand straight up in the water, and often repeated the 
words, " Revenge, Revenge, Revenge ! '"' whereat this 
deponent and the rest, being put into a strong amaze- 
ment, and affrighted, walked from the place. 

Jurat, January 29, 1642. 

5 Arthur Azlum, of Clowargher, in the County of 
Cavan, esquire, deposeth that he was credibly informed 
by some that were present there, that there were thirty 
women and young children, and seven men flung into 
the river of Belturbet ; and when some of them offered 
to swim for their lives, they were by the rebels followed 
in carts, and knocked upon the head with poles. The 
same day they hanged two women at Turbet ; and 
this deponent doth verily believe that Rutmore O'Reby, 
the then sheriff, had a hand in commanding the 
murder of those said persons ; for that he saw him 
write two notes, Vv^hich he sent to Turbet by Bryan 
O'Reby, upon whose coming their murders were com- 

13 



194 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

mitted : and those persons who were present also 
affirmed that thebodiesof those thirty persons drowned 
did not appear on the water till about six weeks past ; 
as the said Reby came to the town all the bodies 
came floating up to the very bridge ; and those persons 
were all formerly retained in the town by his protection, 
when the rest of their neighbours in town went away. 
— History of the Irish Rebellion, by Sir John Temple, 



LXVIL 

Apparition of Major Blomberg to the Governor of 

Dominica, 

Early in the American war, Major Blomberg, the 
father of Dr. Blomberg, was expected to join his 
regiment, which was at the time on service in the 
Island of Dominica. His period of absence had ex- 
pired, and his brother officers eagerly anticipating 
his return, as vessel after vessel arrived from England 
without conveying the-looked-for passenger declared 
one to another, " well, at all events, he must come in 
the next." His presence in the island now became 
indispensible ; and the governor, impatient of so long 
an absence, was on the point of writing a remonstrance 
on the subject to the authorities in England, when, as 
he was sitting at night in his study with his secretary, 
and remarking on the conduct of the absentee with 
no very favourable or lenient expressions, a step was 
heard to ascend the stairs, and walk along the passage 
without. ^' Who can it be T exclaimed the governor, 
" intruding at so late an hour." " It is Blomberg's 
step," replied the secretary. '' The very man himself" 
said the governor ; for, as he spoke, the door opened, 
and Major Blomberg stood before them. The major 
advanced towards the table at which the gentlemen 
were sitting, and flung himself into a chair opposite 



APPARITION OF MAJOR BLOMBERG, IQS 

the governor. There was something hurried in his 
manner ; a forgetfulness of all the ordinary forms of 
greeting ; and abruptly saying : '' I must converse with 
you alone :" he gave a sign for the secretary to retreat. 
The sign was obeyed. There was an air of conscious 
superiority about the m.anner of the visitor that ad- 
mitted no dispute. '' On your return to England," he 
continued, as soon as the apartment was cleared of the 
objectionable witness, '' on your return to England you 

w^ill go to a farm house, near the village of , in 

Dorsetshire ; you will there find two children ; they 
are mine ; the offspring and the orphans of my secret 
marriage. Be a guardian to those parentless infants. 
To prove their legitimacy, and their consequent right 
to my property, you must demand of the woman, with 
whom they are placed at nurse, the red morocco case 
which was committed to her charge. Open it ; it con- 
tains the necessary papers. Adieu ! you will see me 
no more.'' Major Blomberg instantly withdrew. The 
governor of Dominica, surprised at the commission, at 
the abrupt entrance, and the abrupt departure, rang the 
bell to desire some of his household to follow the major 
and request his return. None had seen him enter : 
none had witnessed his exit It was strange ! it was 
passing strange ! There soon after arrived intelligence 
that Major Blomberg had embarked on board a vessel 
for Dominica, which had been dismasted in a storm 
at sea and was supposed to have subsequently sunk 
about the time in which the figure had appeared to 
the governor and his secretary, as she was never more 
heard of. 

All that Major Blomberg had communicated was 
carefully stamped in the memory of his friend. On 
his return to England, which occurred in a few months 
after the apparition above described had been seen 
by the governor, he immediately hastened to the 



196 SIGNS B.i^rORE DEATH. 

village in Dorsetshire, and to the house in which the 
children were resident. 

He found them ; he asked for the case ; it was 
immediately surrendered. The legitimacy and the 
claims of the orphans of Blomberg were established, 
and they were admitted to the enjoyment of their 
rights without any controversy or dispute. 

This tale was related to the late Queen Charlotte, 
and so deeply interested her, that she immediately 
adopted the son as the object of her peculiar care and 
favour. He was brought to Windsor, and educated 
with her eldest son, afterwards George IV., of whom 
he was through life the favourite, the companion, and 
the friend. — From H, Welby. 



Lxvni. 

The Abbey Vault 

In convivial circles, the weakness of mankind too 
frequently becomes the idle and sportive jest of the 
passing hour. Among hypochondriacs the same 
subject often feeds the distempered imagination with 
airy nothings, until the soul becomes frozen and 
horrified at the bare narration of the most simple and 
accountable facts. Belonging to both classes is the 
celebrated relation of a frolicsome visit to Westminster 
Abbey, which is said to have arisen at a jovial party, 
where mirth had reigned so long that it was thought 
prudent to shift the scene to the grave and serious. 

The purpose of this story is evidently to subvert 
the whole theory of apparitions and a future state ; 
but we cannot for a moment be so weak as to imagine 
it feasible that this question, v/hich has been disputed 
by the wisest men in all ages, should be settled by a 
circle of topers, whose wits were quickened by the 
potent influences of wine and mirth. 



THE ABBEY VAULT, I97 

The narrative is given by Sinclair, in his Invisible 
World, and we quote it in his own words : — 

" Five or six gentlemen, who had dined together at 
a tavern were drawn to visit the Royal Vault in King 
Henry's Chapel in Westminster Abbey. As they 
looked down the steep descent, by which so many 
monarchs had been carried to their last resting place 
one cried, 'tis hellish dark ; — another stooped his 
nostrils, and exclaimed against the noisome vapour 
that ascended from it. All had their different sayings, 
but as it is natural for such spectacles to excite some 
moral reflections even in the most gay and giddy, they 
all returned with countenances more serious than those 
with which they had entered. 

" Having agreed, however, to pass the evening 
together, they all returned to the place where they 
had dined, and the conversation turning on a future 
state and apparitions, one among them, who was an 
infidel in these matters especially as to spirits be- 
coming visible, took upon himself to rally the others, 
who seemed rather inclined to the contrary opinion. 

"At length, to end the contest, they proposed him 
a wager of twenty guineas, that, great hero as he pre- 
tended or really imagined himself to be, he had not 
the courage enough to go alone, at midnight, into the 
vault of Henry the Seventh's chapel. This he readily 
accepted, and was quite elated w^ith the prospect of 
success. 

" The money on both sides was deposited in the 
hands of the landlord of the house ; and one of the 
vergers of the Abbey was sent for, wdiom they 
engaged to attend the adventurous gentleman to the 
gate of the cathedral, then to shut him in and wait 
his return. 

" Every thing being thus settled, the clock no sooner 
struck twelve than they all set out together ; those 
who laid the wager being resolved not to be imposed 



198 SIGNS BEFORE BE A Tff. 

upon by his tampering with the verger. Another 
scruple arose ; which was, that though they saw him 
enter the chapel, how should they be convinced that 
he went as far as the vault ; but he instantly removed 
it by pulling out a penknife he had in his pocket : — 
' This,' said he, ' will I stick into the earth and leave 
there, and if you do not find it in the inside of the 
vault, I will own the wager lost/ 

" These words left them nothing to suspect, and 
they agreed to wait for him at the door, beginning 
now to believe he had no less resolution than he had 
pretended. 

" Every step he took was echoed by the hollow 
ground, and though it was not altogether dark, the 
verger having left a lamp burning just before the door 
that led to the chapel, yet the faint glimmering it 
gave rather added to, than diminished, the solemnity 
of the scene. 

" At length, sometimes groping his way and some- 
times directed by the distant lamp, he reached the 
entrance of the vault : — his inward tremor increased, 
yet determined not to be overpowered by it he 
descended, and having reached the last stair, stooped 
forward, and stuck his penknife into the earth ; but 
as he was rising to turn back and leave the vault, he 
felt something, as he thought, suddenly catch hold of 
him and pluck him forward ; he lost in an instant 
everything that could support him, and fell into a 
swoon, with his head in the vault, and part of his 
body on the stairs. 

" His friends waited patiently till one o'clock, when 
not making his appearance, they debated among 
themselves what they should do in the affair ; the 
verger they found, though accustomed to the place, 
did not care to go alone ; therefore they resolved to 
accompany him, and accordingly, preceded by a torch, 
which a footman belonging to one of the company 



THE ABBEY VAULT, 199 

had with him, they went into the abbey, calling loudly 
for him as they proceeded. 

" No answer, however, being returned, they moved 
on till they came to the stairs of the vault, where 
looking down they saw the condition he was in ; — 
they immediately ran to him, rubbed his temples, and 
did every thing they could think of to restore him, 
but all in vain, till they got out of the abbey, when 
the fresh air recovered him. 

"After two or three deep groans, he cried, ' Heaven 
help ne ; Lord have mercy upon me,' which surprised 
his friends ; but imagining he was not yet perfectly 
come to his senses, they forbore saying any thing to 
him til they had got him into a tavern, where, having 
placed him in a chair by the fire side, they began to 
enquire uto his situation, on which he acquainted 
them with the apprehensions he was seized with im- 
mediately after he had left them, and that having 
stuck his penknife into the floor of the vault, ac- 
cording to h*s agreement, he was about to return 
with all possille haste when something plucked him 
forward into t^e vault; but he added that he had 
neither seen no- heard any thing but that his reason 
might easily acount for, and should have returned 
with the same sentiments he went, had not this un- 
seen hand conviiced him of the injustice of his un- 
belief 

One of the company now saw the penknife sticking 
through the fore Ippet of his coat, on which pre- 
sently conjecturing^he truth, and finding how deeply 
affected his friend wis by his mistake, as indeed were 
all the rest, not dobting but his return had been 
impeded by a superatural hand, he plucked out the 
penknife before themall, and said, ' here is the mys- 
tery discovered ; in te attitude of stooping to stick 
this into the ground, i happened, as you see, to pass 
through the coat, anc on your attempting to rise, 



200 S/GJVS BEFORE DEA TIL 

the terror you were in magnified this little obstruction 
into an imaginary impossibility of withdrawing your- 
self/ 

" His friends now ridiculed his credulity, but the 
singularity of this accident did not shake his faith." 

[The foregoing story (from Welby) is worth includ- 
ing in such a collection as the present, althoug-h its 
individual merit is small. The obvious moral of it is 
that if you force yourself into the midst of unnatural 
circumstances, and thus deliberately bring a great and 
unnecesssary pressure to bear upon your nerves, they 
may refuse to be so trifled with and let yov down. 
And serve you right. — Ed.] / 



LXIX. 

The Disobedient Son. 

About the year 1796, a young gentleman of good 
birth and fortune, having a great inclination to see the 
world, resolved to go into the army. His father was 
dead, and had left him a good esUte, besides his 
mother's jointure, which at her deith would con- 
sequently fall to him. 

His mother earnestly intreated hrn not to go into 
the army, but persuaded him raher to travel, by 
which means the calamities and hazards of war might 
be avoided. He however slighted her entreaties, and 
at length mortgaged part of his ^tate to purchase a 
company in the first regiment 'f guards, which he 
efifected. / 

• The night before he signed t^e agreement for the 
company, being in bed and id^i asleep, he saw in a 
dream his father approach hinrin his gown, and with 
a great fur cap on, such as /e was accustomed to 
wear ; calling him by his nar«, he said, what is the 
reason that you will not lis^n to the entreaties of 



THE DISOBEDIENT SON, 201 

your mother to relinquish all ideas of the army. I 
assure you, that if you resolve to take this commission, 
you will not enjoy it three years. 

He seemed to slight the admonition, and said it 
was too late to retract. " Too late ! too late I " said 
the old man, repeating those words ; *' then go on, 
and repent too late." He was not much affected with 
this apparition when he waked and found it was but 
a dream ; but bought the commission. 

A few days afterwards the father appeared to his 
mother in a dream as to her son, and noticing his 
obstinacy, added, ''Young heads are wilful; Robert 
will go into the army ; but tell him from me he shall 
never come back." 

These notices were of no avail with the son ; two 
battalions of his regiment went into the field that 
summer, of which his company was one, and he was 
ordered into Flanders. 

He acquitted himself bravely in several warm 
actions. One day, in the third year of his service, the 
army being drawn out in order of battle, the General 
had received advice that the enemy were about to 
attack them. As he stood at the head of his company 
he was suddenly seized with a cold shivering fit, which 
was so violent, as to be noticed by some officers who 
were near him. It continued about a quarter of an 
hour, and the enemy did come on as was expected ; 
but the fight began upon the left, at a good distance 
from them, so that the whole left wing was engaged 
before they began. 

While this lasted, the lieutenant called to him 
" captain, how are you } I hope your shivering fit is 
over."' '' No," said the captain, '' it is not over, but it 
is somewhat better." " It will be all right presently/' 
said the lieutenant. 

" Ay, so it will," said the capain : '' I am very 
easy, I know what it was now." He then called the 



202 SIGNS BEFORE BE A TH. 

lieutenant, to whom he said, " I know now what ailed 
me, I am very easy, I have seen my father ; I shall 
be killed the first volley ; let my mother know I told 
you this." 

In a few minutes after this, a body of the enemy 
advanced, and the first volley the regiment received 
was the fire of five platoons of grenadiers, by which 
the captain and several other officers, besides private 
men, were killed, and the whole brigade was soon 
after thrown into confusion ; though, being supported 
by some regiments of the second line, they rallied 
again soon after. The captain's body was presently 
recovered ; but he was dead, having received a shot 
in the face. — From H, Welby, 



LXX. 

The Yatt07t Demoniac, 

In the year 1788 considerable interest was excited 
throughout the County of Somerset by the extraordi- 
nary case of one George Lukins, who was said to have 
been possessed of evil spirits for nearly eighteen years. 
The subject was at first treated as an impostor, but 
much controversy and sceptical dispute arising, several 
illiberal ex-parte statements appeared in the Bristol 
Gazette and Bath Chronicle, At length the evidence 
and circumstances were collected by the Rev. Joseph 
Easterbrook, the Vicar of Temple Church, Bristol, of 
which the following narrative is the substance : — 

"On Saturday, May 31st, 1788, Mrs. Sarah Baber 
called on me, acquainting me that she had just returned 
from a visit to Yatton, in the County of Somerset, 
where she had found a poor man afilicted with an ex- 
traordinary malady. She said his name was George 
Lukins ; that he had fits daily during her stay at Yat- 
ton, in which he sang and screamed in various sounds, 



THE YATTON DEMONIAC. 203 

some of which did not resemble the modifications of 
a human voice ; that he cursed and swore in a most 
tremendous manner while in his fits, and declared that 
doctors could do him no service. She likevv^ise said 
that she could take upon her to affirm that he had 
been subject to fits of a very uncommon nature for 
the last eighteen years, for the cure of which he 
had been placed for a considerable time under the 
care of Mr. Smith, an eminent surgeon of Wrington, 
who administered all the assistance in his power, with- 
out effect. Many other medical gentlemen, she said, 
had in like manner tried to help him, but in vain. 
Most of the people about Yatton then conceived him 
to be bewitched ; but latterly he had himself declared 
that he was possessed of seven devils, and that noth- 
ing would avail but the united prayers of seven clergy- 
men, who could ask deliverance for him in faith ; but 
seven could not be procured in that neighbourhood to 
meet his ideas, and try the experiment : she therefore 
earnestly requested me to go to Yatton to see him. 

* 'k >k 'k * 'k * 

" I consented that George Lukins should be brought 
to me ; little expecting that an attention to his piti- 
able case would have produced such a torrent of 
opposition and illiberal abuse upon the parties con- 
cerned in his relief. 

" In compliance with my promise to Mrs, Baber, I 
applied to such of the clergy of the established church 
as I conceived to be most cordial in co-operating in 
benevolent acts, namely, to the Rev. Mr. Symes, rector 
of St. Werburgh's ; the Rev. Dr. Robins, precentor of 
the Cathedral ; and the Rev. Mr. Brown, rector of 
Portishead ; requesting that these gentlemen would 
with me attend a meeting for prayer in behalf of this 
object of commiseration ; but though they acknow- 
ledged it as their opinion that his was a supernatural 
affliction, I could not prevail upon them to join with 



204 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

me in this attempt to relieve him. And as these 
gentlemen rejected my application, it appeared to me 
that there was no rational ground of hope for more 
success with those of my brethren who were less dis- 
posed to admit the doctrine of the influence of good 
and evil spirits. 

The more frequently I saw and heard of the misery 
which George Lukins experienced, the more I pitied 
him, and being unwilling to dismiss him from Bristol 
till some effort had been made for his recovery, I next 
desired certain persons in connection with the Rev. 
Mr. Wesley to attend a prayer meeting on his account, 
to which request they readily acceded. Accordingly a 
meeting was appointed for Friday morning the 13th 
of June, at eleven o'clock. And as the most horrible 
noises usually proceeded from him in his fits, it was 
suggested that the vestry-room of Temple Church, 
which is bounded by the churchyard, was the most 
retired place that could be found in Temple parish ; 
and for that reason that situation was preferred to any 
other, it being our design to conduct this business 
with as much secrecy as possible. But we soon found 
that our design in this respect was rendered abortive; 
for on Wednesday evening, the I ith of June, there was 
published in the Bristol Gazette, an ingenious letter 
from the Bath Chrojiidey from which the following is 
an extract : 

" About eighteen years ago George Lukins, going 
about the neighbourhood with other young fellows, 
acting Christmas plays or mummeries, suddenly fell 
down senseless, and was with great difficulty recovered. 
When he came to himself, the account that he gave 
was, that he seemed at the moment of his fall to have 
received a violent blow from the hand of some person 
who, as he thought, was allowed thus to punish him 
for acting a part in the play. From that moment he 
has been subject, at uncertain and different periods, to 



THE YATTON DEMONIAC. 205 

fits of a most singular and dreadful nature. The first 
symptom is a powerful agitation of the right hand, to 
which succeed terrible distortions of the countenance. 
The influence of the fit has then commenced. He 
declares in a roaring voice that he is the devil, who with 
many horrid execrations summons about him certain 
persons devoted to his will, and commands them to tor- 
ture this unhappy patient with all the diobolical means 
in their power. The supposed demon then directs his 
servants to sing. Accordingly the patient sings in a 
different voice a jovial hunting song, which, having 
received the approbation of the foul fiend, is succeeded 
by a song in a female voice, very delicately expressed, 
and this is followed, at the particular injunction of the 
demon, by a pastoral song in the form of a dialogue, 
sung by, and in the real character of, the patient him- 
self After a pause, and more violent distortions, he 
again personates the demon, and sings in a hoarse, 
frightful voice, another hunting song. But in all these 
songs, whenever any expression of goodness, benevol- 
ence^ or innocence, occurs in the original, it is regularly 
changed to another of its opposite meaning ; neither 
can the patient bear to hear any good words whatever, 
nor any expression relating to the church, during the 
influence of his fit, but is exasperated by them into 
blasphemy and outrage. Neither can he speak or 
write any expressions of this tendency whilst the sub- 
sequent weakness of his fits is upon him, but is driven 
to madness by their mention. Having performed the 
songs, he continues to personate the demon, and de- 
rides the attempts which the patient has been making 
to get out of his power, that he will persecute and 
torment him more and more to the end of his life, and 
that all the efforts of parsons and physicians shall 
prove fruitless. An inverted Te Deiim is then sung in 
the alternate voices of a man and woman, who with 
much profaneness thank the demon for having given 



206 S/GJVS BEFORE DEATH. 

them power over the patient, which they will continue 
to exercise as long as he lives. The demon then 
concludes the ceremony by declaring his unalterable 
resolution to punish him for ever; and after barking 
fiercely, and interspersing many assertions of his own 
diabolical dignity, the fit subsides into the same strong 
agitation of the hand that introduced it, and the patient 
recovers from its influence, utterly weakened and 
exhausted. At certain periods of the fit, he is so 
violent, that an assistant is always obliged to be at 
hand to restrain him from committing some injury on 
himself, though to the spectators he is perfectly harm- 
less. He understands all that is said and done during 
his fits, and will even reply sometimes to questions 
asked him. He is under the influence of these par- 
oxysms generally near an hour, during which time his 
eyes are fast closed. Sometimes he fancies himself 
changed into the form of an animal, when he assumes 
all the motions and sounds that are peculiar to it. From 
the execrations he utters it may be presumed that he 
is or was of an abandoned and profligate character, but 
the reverse is the truth ; he was ever of a remarkably 
innocent and inoffensive disposition. Every method 
that the variety of persons who have come to see him 
have suggested, every effort of some very ingenious 
gentlemen of the faculty who applied their serious 
attention to his case, has been long ago and recently 
exerted without success ; and some years ago he was 
sent to St. George's Hospital, where he remained about 
twenty weeks, and was pronounced incurable. The 
emaciated and exhausted figure that he presents, the 
number of years that he has been subject to this' 
malady, and the prospect of want and distress that lies 
before him, through being thus disabled from following 
his business, all preclude the suspicion of imposture. 
His life is become a series of intense anxieties." 
Wrington, Jan. 5, 1788. W. R. W. 



THE YATTON DEMONIAC. 20/ 

This letter attracted the notice of the citizens ; and 
it having been made known that a prayer meeting on 
Friday morning was to be held in the vestry-room of 
Temple Church, for the man who was the subject of 
that letter, a considerable number of people planted 
themselves upon the walls of the vestry-room and 
heard part of the prayers, the singings, the conversa- 
tion, and the wonderful sounds which proceeded from 
George Lukins, and carried some account of these 
circumstances to a printer, who instantly dispatched 
papers upon the subject through the streets of Bristol 
and its vicinage. Similar papers w^ere shortly carried 
through the streets of Bath and London, and through 
many other parts of the country ; so that contrary to 
our design the affair was in this manner brought be- 
fore the public. 

On Friday morning, June 13, fourteen gentlemen, 
accompanied by George Lukins, met at the vestry- 
room at Temple Church at eleven o'clock, to pray for 
the relief of this afflicted man, when the following 
geremo ny took place : — 

1. They began singing an hymn, on which the man 
was immediately thrown into strange agitations (very 
different from his usual seizures), his face was variously 
distorted, and his whole body strongly convulsed. His 
right hand and arm then began to shake with violence, 
and after some violent throes, he spake in a deep, 
hoarse, hollow voice, personating an invisible agent, 
calling the man to an account, and upbraiding him as 
a fool for bringing that silly company together : said 
it was to no purpose, and swore '' by his infernal den " 
that he would never quit his hold of him, but would 
torment him a thousand times worse for making this 
vain attempt. 

2. He then began to sing in his usual manner [still 
personating some invisible agejit), blaspheming, boasted 
of his power, and vowed eternal vengeance on the 



208 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

miserable object, and on those present for daring to 
oppose him ; and commanded his '' faithful and obedi- 
ent servants " to appear and take their stations. 

3. He then spoke in a female voice, expressive of 
scorn and derision, and demanded to know why the 
fool had brought such a company there ? And swore 
" by the devil " that he would not quit his hold of him, 
and bid defiance to, and cursed all, who should attempt 
to rescue the miserable object from him. He then 
sung, in the same female voice, a love song, at the 
conclusion of which he was violently tortured, and 
repeated most horrid imprecations. 

4. Another invisible agent came forth, assuming a 
different voice, but his manner was much the same as 
the preceding one. A kind of dialogue was then sung 
in a hoarse and soft voice alternately, at the conclusion 
of which, as before, the man was thrown into violent 
agonies, and blasphemed in a manner too dreadful to 
be expressed. 

5. He then personated, and said, " I am the great 
devil;" and after much boasting of his power, and 
bidding defiance to all his opposers, sung a kind of 
hunting song, at the conclusion of which he was most 
violently tortured, so that it was with difficulty that 
two strong men could hold him (though he is but a 
small man, and very weak in constitution) ; some- 
times he would set up a hideous laugh, at other times 
bark in a manner indescribably horrid. 

6. After this he summoned all the infernals to ap- 
pear, and drive the company away. And while the 
ministers were engaged in fervent prayer, he sung a 
Te Demn to the devil in different voices, saying, " We 
praise thee, O devil ; we acknowledge thee to be the 
supreme governor, &c. &c." 

7. When the noise was so great as to obstruct the 
company proceeding in prayer, they sang together an 
hymn suitable to the occasion. Whilst they were in 



THE YATTON DEMONIAC, 209 

prayer, the voice which personated the great devil 
bid defiance, cursing and vowing dreadful vengeance 
on all present One in the company commanded him 
in the nam.e of the great Jehovah to declare his name ? 
To which he replied, " I am the devil." The same 
person then charged him in the name of Jehovah to 
declare why he tormented the man ? To which he 
made answer, " That I may shew my power amongst 
men." 

8. The poor man still remained in great agonies 
and torture, and prayer was continued for his deliver- 
ance. A clergyman present desired him to endeavour 
to speak the name of '' Jesus," and several times re- 
peated it to him, at all of which he replied ''devil.'' 
During this attempt a small faint voice was heard 
saying, '* Why don't you adjure 1 " On which the 
clergyman commanded, in the name of Jesus, and in 
the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, 
I command thee, evil spirit, to depart from this man ; 
which he repeated several times, when a voice was 
heard to say, '' Must I give up my power 1 " and this 
was followed by dreadful bowlings. Soon after another 
voice, as with astonishment, said, " Our master has 
deceived us." The clergyman still continuing to re- 
peat the adjuration, a voice was heard to say, ''Where 
shall we go } " and the reply was, " To hell, thine own 
infernal den, and return no more to torment this man." 
On this the man's agitations and distortions were 
stronger than ever, attended with the most dreadful 
bowlings that can be conceived. But as soon as this 
conflict v/as over, he said, in his own natural voice, 
" Blessed Jesus ! " became quite serene, immediately 
praised God for his deliverance, and, kneeling down, 
said the Lord's Prayer, and returned his most devout 
thanks to all who were present. 

The meeting broke up a little before one o'clock, 
having lasted nearly two hours, and the man went 

14 



2 1 SIGNS BEFORE DEA Tff. 

away entirely delivered, and has had no return of the 
disorder since. 

(Mr, Easterh'ook then proceeds to give a variety of well- 
autheiiticated docuinents substantiating the whole of the above 
circu7nstantial narrative.) 

Lukins was visited by several persons of distinction, 
all of whom bore testimony to the foregoing circum- 
stances. The extravagance of his language, and his 
blasphemous ravings were appalling. 

Several pamphlets were published on the subject, 
but the narrative of Mr. Easterbrook is in every re- 
spect supported by authorities of unquestionable 
veracity, and recommended by its perspicuous and 
intelligible details. 

LXX. 

Sword Signs. 

A young nobleman, of high hopes and fortune, 
chanced to lose his way in the town which he inha- 
bited, the capital of a German province ; he accident- 
ally involved himself among the narrow winding 
streets of a suburb, inhabited by the lowest order of 
the people, and an approaching thunder shower de- 
termined him to ask a short refuge in the most decent 
habitation that was near him. He knocked at the 
door, which was opened by a tall man, of a grisly and 
ferocious aspect, and sordid dress. The stranger was 
readily ushered to a chamber, where swords, scourges, 
and machines, which seemed to be implements of tor- 
ture, were suspended on the wall. One of these swords 
dropped from its scabbard, as the nobleman, after a 
moment's hesitation^ crossed the threshold. His host 
immediately stared at him with such marked expres- 
sion, that the young man could not help demanding 
his name and business, and the meaning of his look- 
ing at him so fixedly. " I am," answered the man, 



APPARITION TO LAD V FANSHA W. 211 

" the public executioner of this city ; and the incident 
you have observed is a sure augury that I shall, in 
discharge of my duty, one day cut off your head with 
the weapon which has just now spontaneously un- 
sheathed itself' The nobleman lost no time in leaving 
his place of refuge; but engaging in some plots of 
the period, was very shortly after decapitated by that 
very man and instrument. 

Lord Lovat is said, by the author of letters from 
Scotland, to have affirmed that a number of swords 
that hung up in the hall of the mansion-house, leaped 
of themselves out of the scabbard at the instant he was 
born. This story passed current among his clan, and 
like that of the story just quoted, proved an unfortu- 
nate omen. — From H, Welby. 



LXXL 

Apparition to Lady Fanshaw. 

'' Supernatural intimation of approaching fate," 
says Sir Walter Scott, " are not, I believe, confined to 
highland families. Howel mentions having seen at a 
lapidary's in 1632, a monumental stone prepared for 
four persons of the name of Oxenham, before the 
death of each of whom, the inscription stated, a white 
bird to have appeared and fluttered round the bed 
while the patient was in the last agony." {Familiar 
Letters, Edit. 1726. p. 247.) Glanville mentions one 
family, the members of which received this solemn 
sign by music, the sound of which floated from the 
family residence and seemed to die in a neighbouring 
wood ; another, that of Captain Wood of Bampton, to 
whom the signal was given by knocking. 

But the most remarkable instance of presentiment 
of death occurs in the MS. memoirs of Lady Fanshaw, 
so exemplary for her conjugal affection. Her husband. 



2 1 2 SIGN'S BEFORE DEA TH. 

Sir Richard, and she, chanced, during their abode in 
Ireland, to visit a friend, the head of a sept, who re- 
sided in his ancient baronial castle surrounded with a 
moat At midnight she was awakened by a ghastly 
and supernatural scream, and looking out of bed, 
beheld by the moonlight a female face and part of 
the form hovering at the window. The distance from 
the ground, as well as the circumstance of the moat, 
excluded the possibility that what she beheld was of 
this world. The face was that of a young and rather 
handsome woman, but pale, and the hair, which was 
of a reddish colour, loose and dishevelled. The dress, 
which Lady Fanshaw's terror did not prevent her 
remarking accurately, was that of the ancient Irish. 
This apparition continued to exhibit itself for some 
time, and then vanished with two shrieks similar to 
the one which had first excited Lady Fanshaw's atten- 
tion. In the morning, with infinite terror, she com- 
municated to her host what she had witnessed, and 
found him prepared not only to credit but to account 
for the apparition. " A near relative of my family," 
said he, *' expired last night in the castle. We dis- 
guised our certain expectation of the event from you, 
lest it should throw a cloud over the cheerful recep- 
tion which was your due. Now, before such an event 
happens in this family and castle, the female spectre 
which you have seen is always visible. She is believed 
to be the spirit of a woman of inferior rank, whom 
one of my ancestors degraded himself by marrying, 
and whom afterwards, to expiate the dishonour done 
to his family, he caused to be drowned in the castle 
moat/' — From H. VVelby. 



APPARITION TO PHILIP MELANCTHON, 211 

LXXIL 

Apparitmi to Philip Melancthon, 

The name of Melancthon, as the intimate friend 
and distinguished coadjutor of Martin Luther in the 
glorious work of the Reformation, must be dear to 
every enlightened Protestant ; and his labours as a 
reformer and scholar rank him among the brightest 
ornaments of religion and literature. 

The merits of this good and great man have been 
set forth in a work of considerable worth, by F. A. 
Cox, A.M. In the course of his interesting biographical 
narrative, he gives the following relation of an inci- 
dent which occurred at the second Diet of Spires, 
convened in the year 1529. 

" A curious circumstance," says Mr. Cox, " occurred 
at this convocation, which Melancthon relates in his 
commentary on the angelic appearance mentioned in 
the tenth chapter of Daniel, and w^hich he affirms was 
but one out of many of a similar nature which he 
could fully authenticate. The case was briefly this : 
Simon Grynaeus, a very intimate friend of his, and 
at this period a Greek professor in the University of 
Heidelberg, who combined profound erudition with 
zealous piety, came over unexpectedly to see him at 
Spires. He ventured to encounter Faber, the Catholic 
Bishop of Vienna, and to urge him closely on some 
topics in discussion between the Catholics and the 
Reformers. The bishop, who was plausible but shal- 
low, fearful of engaging in argument, but cruelly ready 
to use the sword, pretended that private business with 
the king required his attention at that moment, but 
that he felt extremely desirous of the friendship of 
Grynseus and of another opportunity of discussing the 
controverted points. No dissembler himself, Grynseus 
returned to his friends without suspicion of the wily 



2 1 4 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 

courtier's intentions ; nor could any of them have 
known it but for what Melancthon deemed a super- 
natural interference. They were just sitting down to 
supper, and Grynaeus had related part of the conver- 
sation between himself and the bishop, when Melanc- 
thon was suddenly called out of the room to an old 
man whom he had never seen nor heard of, or could 
afterwards discover ; he was characterized by a most 
observable peculiarity of manner and dress, and said, 
that persons by the king's authority would soon arrive 
to seize Grynaeus and put him in prison, Faber having 
influenced him to this persecuting measure. He en- 
joined that instant means should be adopted to secure 
the departure of Grynaeus to a place of safety, and 
urged that there should not be a moment's delay. 
Upon communicating this information he immediately 
withdrew, Melancthon and his friends instantly be- 
stirred themselves, and saw him safe across the Rhine. 
It afterwards appeared that the king's messengers were 
in the house almost as soon as they had left it, but 
Grynaeus was out of the reach of danger ; a danger, as 
Melancthon remarks, easily imagined by those who 
were acquainted with Faber's cruelty. He says, they 
were all of opinion that this was a divine interposition, 
so singular was the appearance of the old man, and so 
rapid the movements of the instruments of vengeance^ 
from whose power Grynaeus scarcely escaped.'' 

Such is the narrative which the reader is put in pos- 
session of without note or comment. Some will think 
it supernatural, others will exclaim, Credat Judceus 
Apella, and many perhaps will consider it, though re- 
markable, capable of explanation, without allowing it 
to have been m.iraculous. The use Melancthon makes 
of the statement must be admitted to be worthy of 
his exalted piety; "Let us," says he, ^* be grateful to 
God who sends his angels to be our protectors, and 



APPARITION OF MRS. BARGRA VE. 21$ 

let US With increased tranquility of mind, fulfil the 
duties assigned us/' — Cox's Life of Melanctho7i. 

It should be added that no subsequent discovery 
was made of the identity of the old man, who thus 
preserved the Reformer and his fellow-labourers ; nor 
did circumstances in the slightest degree tend to in- 
validate the above conclusion. 



LXXIII. 

Apparition of Mrs. Bargrave to Mrs. Veal, at 
Canterbury, 

The credit of the following narrative has been much 
depreciated by those who have erroneously considered 
it as a mere fable prefixed to Drelincourt's Treatise 
on Death,* owing to the circumstance of that book 
being preferred by Mrs. Veal, one of the parties. The 
publisher, to promote the sale of Drelincourt's work, 
printed an incorrect and garbled edition of this narra- 
tive, with irreconcileable inconsistencies, which has 
made the affair pass as a mere stratagem of trade. 
These imperfections will be evident on a comparison 
of the following original statement with that prefixed 
to Drelincourt's work. Thus, it is illiberal and unjust 

* The motives of the author in this work are unquestionably those of 
a sincere Christian who has the interest of his fellow -creatures at heart. 
We now see it in the cottages of the labouring poor ; but its influence 
is neither restrained to the noble, the opulent, or the needy ; since by 
placing DEATH, or a temporary cessation or suspension of existence^ in a 
proper point of view, it encourages and supports man in his severest 
trials. The character and eccentricities of the late Duke of Norfolk are 
well-known. His life was one round of gaiety and pleasurable licence, 
by which means he shortened his career and thus deprived mankind of 
the benefit of his useful talents. He died in St. James's Square, De- 
cember, 1815 ; but remorse overtook him ere he left his darling world ; 
and it is a well-authenticated fact, that only a few hours previous to his 
death, he requested that his servant might be despatched to his book- 
sellers in Pall Mall to procure a copy of Drelincourt's Treatise on 
Death. 



2 1 6 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

to decide on its credibility, merely because it has been 
printed with interested motives.* 

Mrs. Margaret Veal and Mrs. Mary Bargrave (be- 
fore her marriage called Lodowick) had contracted an 
affectionate intimacy in their younger years, at which 
time the father of one was customer, and that of the 
other minister of Dover. 

This friendship, being true and faithful, was of use 
to Mrs Veal in one particular, for when her father by 
his extravagance had reduced his family, she found a 
seasonable relief from it in her necessity. 

Besides this, Mrs. Bargrave was instrumental to her 
better fortune, for by her interest with a gentleman, 
one Mr. Boyce, her relation, Mrs. Veals brother, was 
recommended to Archbishop Tillotson, by whom he 
was introduced to Queen Mary ; and her Majesty, for 
his relation by the mother to the Hyde family, gave 
him the post of comptroller of the customs at Dover, 
which place he enjoyed to his death. 

Time and change of circumstances on both sides 
had interrupted their friendship for some years ; and 
Mrs. Bargrave being half a year in London, and after- 
wards settling at Canterbury, had neither seen nor 
heard from Mrs. Veal for a year and a half. 

Mrs. Veal, some time before her death, received the 
addresses of a gentleman of the army, Major-General 
Sibourg (a natural son of the Duke of Scomberg), 
killed in the battle of Mons, and was engaged so far 
that her brother's not consenting to it is believed to 
have brought on those fits which were the cause of 
her death. She died at Dover, on Friday, in the month 
of September, 1705. 

On Saturday, a little before twelve in the morning, 
Mrs. Bargrave being by herself in her own house at 
Canterbury, as she was taking her work in her hand 

* This story was fabricated by De Foe, the ingenious author of 
Robhison Crusoe. 



APPARITION OF MRS. BARGRA VE. 21/ 

heard somebody knock at the door, and going out, 
to her astonishment, found it to be her old friend Mrs. 
Veal. 

' After expressing her surprise to see so great a 
stranger, she offered to salute her, which the other 
declined as it were, by hanging down her head and 
saying she was not well, on which Mrs. Bargrave de- 
sired her to walk in and sit down, which she did. 

She was dressed in a silk dove-coloured riding gown, 
with French night-clothes ; she appeared expressly the 
same as in her lifetime, and Mrs. Bargrave remem- 
bered to have heard her steps distinctly as she walked 
in. 

' Mrs. Bargrave began by asking where she was going 
in that dress.'* She answered she was going her 
journey, which the other concluded to be to Tun- 
bridge, where she went every year for the benefit of 
her health ; and said, you are going to the old place. 

Mrs. Veal being never trusted abroad without atten- 
dance, on account of her fits, she asked how she came 
alone from her uncle's (meaning one Captain Watson 
in Canterbury, with whom she always lodged). She 
replied, she had given them the slip to see her. She 
then asked how she came to find her out in such a 
house, being reduced by her husband's extravagance 
to take up with a much smaller one than she had been 
accustomed to } To which the other made answer, 
she should find her out anywhere. 

Mrs. Bargrave's husband was a barrister, who dissi- 
pated his money in excesses ; and, as he was the worst 
of husbands, his v/ife had gone through a long course 
of ill-usage which was in a great measure unknown to 
the world. The use of this is to show one end of Mrs. 
Veal's visit, which seems to be to give her the relief 
they had often communicated to each other in the 
course of their friendship. 

Mrs. Veal then began with Mrs. Bargrave by asking 



2l8 



SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 



her what was the matter with her, that she looked so 
ill ? She replied, she had been thinking on her mis- 
fortunes. *' I must now act the part you did to me 
under my misfortunes," said Mrs. Veal, '' I must com- 
fort you as you used to do me. I would have you by 
no means think that God Almighty is displeased with 
you ; but that his intention is only to try and perfect 
you, for God does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the 
children of men. Besides, one moment's happiness of 
the other world will be more than a reward for all 
your sufferings, when as upon a hill you shall be above 
all the storms and dangers of a troublesome world/' 
She proceeded in this manner with unusual vehemence, 
and striking her hand often on her knees, she cried, 
"you must believe it/' 

Mrs. Bargrave being so earnestly pressed, asked if 
she did not think she believed it ? To which she re- 
plied, " no doubt you do ; but you must believe it 
thoroughly." 

Mrs. Bargrave, moved with the discourse, chanced 
by a turn of the chair to throw down from a shelf 
Drelincourt's Treatise of the Christian Defence against 
the Fears of Death, which they had so often read to- 
gether. " I see," said Mrs. Veal, " you keep on your 
old way of reading, which, if you continue to do, will 
not fail to bring you to the happy condition he speaks 
of." The other mentioning Dr. Sherlock and some 
others on that subject, she said, " Drelincourt had the 
clearest notion of death," and that neither Dr. Sher- 
lock nor any other on that subject are to be compared 
with him to understanding.* " Dear Mrs. Bargrave," 
said she, " if the eyes of our faith were but open as the 
eyes of our bodily senses, we should see innumerable 
angels about us for our guard ; but our notions of 

* This partial allusion to Drelincourt's book, has suggested the fabri- 
cated statements which have tended to invalidate the report of the nar- 
rative. 



APPARITION OF MRS. BARGRA VE. 2 19 

heaven are nothing like what it is, as Drelincourt says. 
Believe me, my dear friend, one moment of future 
happiness will be more than amends for all your 
suffering ; nor yet can I believe that God will suffer 
you to spend all your days in this afflicted condition, 
but be assured your sufferings will leave you, or you 
them, in a short time, therefore be comforted under 
them, and be assured that God Almighty has a par- 
ticular regard for you ; that they are marks of his 
favour, and when they have done the business they 
were sent for, they will be removed. Mrs. Bargrave, 
saying how dark such a condition as hers was, that 
had no ease at present, Mrs. Veal assured her that the 
worst storms would be recompensed by the reception 
she would meet with in her Father's house, and quoted 
from Isaiah Ivii., '' that God would not content for 
ever, nor be always wrath, for the spirit should fall 
before him, and the souls which he had made." Mrs. 
Bargrave's husband dying about two years after that 
event, made her reflect on this part of her discourse 
as pointing to her deliverance. 

In the course of conversation, Mrs. Veal entered 
upon the subject of friendship, and saying there was 
now little friendship in the world, the other replied, 
she hoped she herself had no reason to complain of 
every one being a friend to the rich ; " I mean,'' said 
Mrs. Veal, "such friendship as you and I had to im- 
prove one another in what is useful. What did you 
think of my friendship, which I am sure has not at all 
repaid what I owe you 1 If you can forgive me, you 
are the best-hearted creature in the world/' Mrs. 
Bargrave replied, "Do not mention such a thing, I 
have not had an uneasy thought about it ; I can for- 
give you." " But what do you think of me "i " urged 
Mrs. Veal. " I thought," replied Mrs. Bargrave, " that, 
like the rest of the world, prosperity had altered you." 
" I have been," said Mrs. Veal, " the most ungrateful 



220 SIGNS BEFORE BE A TH. 

wretch in the world," and then recounted many of the 
kindnesses she had received from her in her adversity, 
saying, she wished her brother knew how she was 
troubled about it. Being asked why she did not ac- 
quaint her brother of it, if it was such a trouble to 
her, she said she did not think of it till she came 
away. 

To divert the discourse, Mrs. Bargrave asked her if 
she had seen a copy of some verses by Mr. Norris on 
Friendship, in a dialogue between Damon and Pythias. 
She said that she had seen other parts of his works, 
but not that. Mrs. Bargrave said, " I have them of 
my own writing," and the other desiring to see them, 
she went upstairs and brought them to her to read ; 
but Mrs. Veal said, "it is your own scrawl, pray read 
it yourself, holding down my head will make it ache." 
Mrs. Bargrave then read them. There was a passage, 
" that friendship survives even death," which the other 
desired to have repeated, and said, " Mrs. Bargrave, 
those poets call heaven by a strange name, that is 
Elysium ; " and then assured her, with particular em- 
phasis, that their friendship should have no end in a 
future world. 

Mrs. Veal asked her what was become of her hus- 
band, and being told he was abroad, said she wished 
he might not come home while she was there, for 
though he always treated her with respect, yet she 
had sometimes been frightened with his frolics. 

At last, she said, she had great apprehensions of 
her fits, and, in case that she should die of them, de- 
sired Mrs. Bargrave to write to her brother and tell 
him she wished him to make certain arrangements for 
her, viz., give her best clothes to her uncle Watson's 
daughter, as also two small pieces of gold laid up in a 
cabinet in a purse ; certain pieces to another person, 
two rings to Mr. Bretton, commissioner of the customs, 
a ring to Major-General Sibourg (of which Mrs. Bar- 



APPARITION OF MRS. BARGRA VE. 221 

grave sent him a letter), and further desired her to 
charge her brother not to take any interest of s'uch a 
certain person whose plate she had in security. 

As she often pressed this message, the other as 
often declined it ; saying it would be disagreeable to 
trouble such a young gentleman as her brother was, 
with their conversation, that he would wonder at her 
impertinence, and that she had better do it herself 
To this she replied that though it might seem imper- 
tinent now, she would see the reason of it hereafter , 
that her brother, though a sober man, and free from 
other vices, was yet vain, which she desired her to tell 
him ; as also of their discourse, and to give her credit, 
she told her some secret of consequence between him 
and herself Seeing her so importunate, Mrs. Bargrave 
fetched pen and ink, upon which the other said, " let 
it alone till I am gone, but be sure that you do it.'' 

This discourse gave Mrs. Bargrave apprehension of 
her fits, so that she drew her chair close to her to 
prevent her . from falling, during which she several 
times took hold of the sleeve of her gown, which 
Mrs. B. admired. Mrs. Veal said she had better take 
it for herself; the other ansAvered you are going a 
journey, how will you do without it .-^ She said, "as 
well as you, who have often taken off your gowm from 
your back for me." 

Towards the end of this discourse, she told Mrs. 
Bargrave that she had received a pension often pounds 
a year from Mr. Bretton, commissioner of the customs, 
who, she said, had been her great friend and bene- 
factor. 

She asked Mrs. Bargrave if she knew her sister, 
Mrs. Haslewood, who, she said, ^vas coming to see her 
as she was taking her journey } The other asked 
again how she came to order matters so strangely ? 
She said the house was ready for them. It proved 



222 SIGATS BEFORE DEATH, 

that Mrs. Haslewood and her husband came to her 
house just as she was dying. 

By this time she began to look disordered, and for- 
getful of what she had said, as if the fits were coming 
upon her. As this visit seemed in a great measure 
designed in gratitude to a friend, without giving any 
apprehensions, so the several parts of her discourse 
that related to Mr. Bretton's pension, her sister Hasle- 
wood, her gown, the quantity of gold in the purse, the 
rings and the plate in pawn, were designed as creden- 
tials to her brother and the world. 

At last she asked Mrs. Bargrave, "where is Molly ? " 
meaning her daughter ; she replied, " she is at school, 
but if you wish to see her, I will send for her ; " to 
which the other agreeing, she went to a neighbour's 
house to send for her, and at her return found Mrs. 
Veal without the door of the house, about to leave. 

Mrs. Veal asked if she would not go with her } 
which the other took to be to Captain Watson's in 
Canterbury, and replied, " you know it is as much as 
my life is worth ; but I will see you to-morrow in the 
afternoon, after sermon. But why are you in such 
haste } " Mrs. Veal then said, " in case you should not 
come, or should not see me, you will remember what 
I have said to you.'' She saw her walk off till she 
came to the turning of a corner, and then lost sight of 
her. It was market-day, and immediately after the 
clock had struck two. 

Mrs. Bargrave at that instant told a neighbour of 
Mrs. Veal's visit, and of their conversation ; and a 
neighbour's servant, from a yard near her window, 
heard some of their discourse, and being asked by her 
mistress if Mr. Bargrave was talking with his wife } 
answered that they never talked of anything so good 
as what she overhead. 

At night her husband came home in a frolicsome 
humour, and taking her by the hand, said, " Molly, 



MR. BOOTY AND THE SHIP'S CREW. 223 

you are hot, you want to be cooled," and so opening 
the door to the garden, put her out there, where she 
continued all night. 

During Sunday she kept her bed, being in a high 
fever ; and on Monday morning sent to Mrs. Watson's 
to enquire after Mrs. Veal, and as she could gain noth- 
ing satisfactory, went herself, but found as little. They 
were surprised at her enquiring for Mrs. Veal, and said 
they were sure by their not seeing her that she could 
not have been at Canterbury; but when Mrs. Bar- 
grave persisted that she was, and described her dress, 
saying, she had on a scoured silk of such a colour, 
Mrs. Watson's daughter said that she must indeed 
have seen her, for none knew of the gown's being 
scoured but themselves, and that her mother assisted 
in making it up. In the meantime Captain Watson 
came in and told them that preparations was making 
in town for the funeral of some person of note in 
Dover. This quickly raised apprehensions in Mrs. 
Bargrave's mind, who went away directly to the under- 
taker's, and was no sooner informed it was for Mrs. 
Veal who was dead, than she fainted away in the 
street. 

For a long time Mrs. Bargrave was visited by crowds 
of people who came to gratify their curiosity ; consist- 
ing chiefly of the most sceptical and the most super- 
stitious ; and during her husband's lifetime she was 
exposed to his unsparing raillery. — From H, Welby, 



LXXIV. 

Mr. Booty and the Ship's Crew. 

No circumstances connected with supernatural ap- 
pearances has occasioned more altercation and con- 
troversy than the under-mentioned. The narrative 
certainly has an air of over-strained credulity ; never- 



224 SIGA^S BEFORE DEATH. 

theless, the affair is curious, and the coincidence very 
remarkable, especially as it was a salvo for Captain 
Barnaby. The former part of this narrative is tran- 
scribed from Captain Spink's journal, or log book, and 
the latter from the King's Bench Records for the time 
being. 

" Tuesday, May the I2th, this day the wind S.S.W./ 
and a little before four in the afternoon we anchored 
in Manser Road, where lay Captains Bristo, Brian, and 
Barnaby, all of them bound to Lucera to load. Wed- 
nesday, May the 13th, w^e weighed anchor, and in the 
afternoon I went on board of Captain Barnaby, and 
about two o'clock we sailed all of us for the island of 
Lucera, wind W.S.VV. and bitter weather. Thursday 
the 14th, about two o'clock we saw the island, and 
all came to anchor in twelve fathoms of water, the 
wind W.S.W., and on the 15th May, we had an obser- 
vation of Mr. Booty in the following manner : — Cap- 
tains Bristo, Brian, and Barnaby w^enfon shore shooting 
colues off Stromboli : wdien we had done we called our 
men together, about fourteen minutes after three in 
the afternoon, when, to our great surprise, we saw two 
men run by us with amazing swiftness. Captain Bar- 
naby said, ' Lord bless me, the foremost man looks 
like my next-door neighbour, old Booty,' but he added 
that he did not know the one that was behind him. 
Booty was dressed in grey clothes, and the one be- 
hind him in black. We saw them run into the burning 
mountain in the midst of the flames, on which we 
heard a terrible noise, too horrible to be described. 
Captain Barnaby then desired us to look at our 
watches, pen the time down in our pocket-books and 
enter it in our journals, which we accordingly did. 

"When we were laden, we all sailed for England, and 
arrived at Gravesend on the 6th of October, 1687. 
Mrs. Barnaby and Mrs. Brian came to congratulate 
us upon our safe arrival, and after some discourse, 



REMARKABLE DREAM. 225 

Captain Barnaby's wife said, *My dear, I have got 
some news to tell you, old Booty is dead.' He swore 
an oath and said, * we all saw him run into hell/ 
Some time afterwards Mrs. Barnaby met with a lady 
of her acquaintance in London, and told her what her 
husband had seen concerning Mr. Booty. It came to 
Mrs. Booty's ears, she brought an action against Cap- 
tain Barnaby, assessing ;^iooo damages. He gave 
bail, and it came to trial at the Court of King's Bench, 
where Mr. Booty's clothes were brought into court. 
The sexton of the parish and the people that were 
with him when he died, swore to the time when he 
died, and we swore to our journals, and they agreed 
within two minutes. Twelve of our men swore that 
the buttons of his coat were covered with the same 
grey cloth as his coat, and it appeared to be so ; the 
jury asked Mr. Spink if he knew Mr. Booty in his 
lifetime ; he said he never saw him till he saw him 
run by him into the burning mountain. The judge 
then said, " Lord, grant that I may never see the sight 
you have seen : one, two, or three, may be mistaken, 
but twenty or thirty cannot ; " so the widow lost the 
cause. 

N.B. — It is now in the Records at Westminster. 

James IL, 1687. 

Herbert, Chief-Jtistice. 

Wythens, \ 

Hollo WAY, and \ Justices. 

Wright, j 



LXXV. 

Remarkable Dream of the Rev Joseph Wilkins. 

The late Rev. Joseph Wilkins, dissenting minister 
at Weymouth, dreamt in the early part of his life a 
very remarkable dream, which he carefully preserved 

IS 



226 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 

in writing as follows : — "One night, soon after I was 
in bed, I fell asleep, and dreamt I was going to Lon- 
don. I thought it would not be much out of my way 
to go through Gloucestershire and call upon my friends 
there. Accordingly I set out, but remembered nothing 
that happened by the way till I came to my father's 
house ; when I went to the front door and tried to 
open it, but found it fast ; then I went to the back- 
door which I opened and went in ; but finding all the 
family had gone to bed, I went across the rooms up 
stairs, and entered the chamber where my father and 
mother were in bed. I went by the side of the bed 
on which my father lay and found him asleep, or 
thought he was so : then I went to the other side, and 
found my mother awake, to whom I said these words, 
' Mother, I am going a long journey, and am come to 
bid you good-bye ; ' upon which she answered me in 
a fright, ' O dear son, thou art dead ! ' With this I 
awoke, and took no notice of it, more than a common 
dream, except that it appeared to me very perfect 

" In a few days after, as soon as a letter could reach 
me, I received one by post from my father, upon the 
receipt of which I was a little surprised, and concluded 
something extraordinary must have happened, as it 
was but a short time before I had a letter from my 
friends, and all were well. Upon opening it I was 
more surprised still, for my father addressed me as 
though I was dead, desiring me if alive, or the person 
into whose hands the letter might fall, to write imme- 
diately ; but if the letter should find me living, they 
concluded I should not live long, and gave this as the 
reason of their fears : — That on a certain night, nam- 
ing it, after they were in bed, my father asleep and 
my mother awake, she heard something try to open 
the front door, but finding it fast it went to the back 
door, which it opened, camxe in, and passed directly 
through the rooms up stairs, and she perfectly knew 



APPARITION OF DESFONTAINES, 22J 

it to be my step ; that I came to her bedside and 
spoke to her these words : — ' Mother, I am going a 
long journey, and am come to bid you good-bye : ' 
upon which she answered me in a fright, ' O ! dear 
son, thou art dead !' which were the very circumstances 
and words of my dream, but she heard nothing more, 
and saw nothing ; neither did I in my dream. 

" Upon this she awoke and told my father what had 
passed ; but he endeavoured to appease her, persuad- 
ing her it was only a dream : she insisted it was no 
dream, for that she was as perfectly awake as ever she 
was, and had not the least inclination to sleep since 
she had been in bed. From these circumstances I am 
apt to think it was at the very same instant when my 
dream happened, though the distance between us was 
about one hundred miles ; but of this I cannot speak 
positively. This occurred while I was at the academy 
at Ottery, Devon, in the year 1754, and at this mo- 
ment every circumstance is fresh upon my mind. I 
have since had frequent opportunities of talking over 
the affair with my mother, and the whole was as fresh 
upon her mind as it was upon mine. I have often 
thought that her sensations as to this matter were 
stronger than mine. What may appear strange is 
that I cannot remember anything remarkable happen- 
ing hereupon. This is only a plain simple narrative 
of a matter of fact." 

Mr. Wilkins died November 15th, 1800, in the 70th 
year of his age. — From H. Welby, 



LXXVL 

Apparition of Desfontaines to Mr. BezueL 

Mr. Bezuel, when a schoolboy of fifteen (in 1695) 
contracted an intimacy with a younger boy named 
Desfontaines. After talking together of the compacts 



228 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

which have been often made between friends, that in 
case of death the spirit of the deceased should revisit 
the survivor, they agreed to form such a com.pact to- 
gether and signed it respectively in 1696. Soon after 
this transaction they were separated by Desfontaines' 
removal to Caen. 

In July, 1697, Bezuel, while amusing himself in hay- 
making near a friend's house, was seized with a fainting 
fit, after which he had a restless night. Notwithstand- 
ing this attack, he returned to the meadow next day, 
but on the succeeding day he had a still more severe 
attack. Bezuel thus relates the subsequent circum- 
stances himself in the Journal de Trevouse^ in 1726 — 

" I fell into a swoon ; I lost my senses ; one of the 
footmen perceived me, and called put for help. They 
recovered me a little, but my mind was more dis- 
ordered than it had been before. I was told that they 
asked me then what ailed me, and that I answered I 
have seen what I thought 1 should never see. But I 
neither remember the question nor the answer. How- 
ever, it agrees with what I remember ; I saw then a 
naked man in half length, but I knew him not. They 
helped me to go down the ladder. I held the steps 
fast ; but because I saw Desfontaines, my schoofellow, 
at the bottomx of the ladder, I had again a fainting fit ; 
my head got between two steps, and I again lost my 
senses. They let me down, and set me upon a large 
beam, which served for a seat in the great Place de 
Capucins. I sat upon it, and then Tno longer saw Mr. 
de Sortoville, nor his servants, though they were pre- 
sent. And perceiving Desfontaines near the foot of 
the ladder, who made me a sign to come to him, I 
went back upon my seat as it were to make room for 
him ; and those who saw me, and whom I did not 
see though my eyes were open, observed that motion. 
Because he did not come I got up to go to him. He 
came up to me, took hold of my left arm with his 



SIR JOHN AND LADY OWEN. 229 

right hand, and carried me thirty paces farther into a 
by-lane, holding me fast. The servants believing that 
I was recovered, went to their business, except a little 
footboy, who told Mr. de Sortoville that I was talking 
to myself. Mr. de Sortoville thought I was drunk. 
He came near me and heard me ask some questions 
and return some answers, as he afterwards told. 

" I talked with Desfontaines nearly three quarters 
of an hour. ' I promised you/ said he, ' that if I died 
before you I would come and tell you so. I am now 
come to tell you I was drowned in the river of Caen 
yesterday about this hour. I was walking with some 
friends : it was hot weather, and we agreed to go 
into the water. I grew faint and sunk to the bottom 
of the river. The Abbe Menilgian, my schoolfellow, 
dived to take me up ; I took hold of his foot, but 
whether he was afraid or had a mind to rise to the top 
of the water, he struck out his leg so violently that he 
gave me a blow on the breast, and threw me again to 
the bottom of the river, which is very deep." 

He always appeared to me taller than I had seen 
him, and even taller than he was when he died. I 
always saw him in half length, naked and bareheaded, 
with his fine light hair, and a white paper upon his 
forehead, twisted in his hair, upon which there was a 
writing, but I could only read Iji cceIo quies. — From 
H. Welby, 



LXXVH. 

Sir John and Lady Owen, 

Sir John Owen was a person of note, and of well- 
known credit. His lady and one of her sons lived in 
London, and being of a gay and expensive disposi- 
tion, it was thought she lived beyond what the Knight 
could aftbrd, and that he was sensible of it and uneasy 



230 SIGNS BEFORE DEATH, 

about it. She had a good house in London, and a 
country house or lodgings for the summer at Hamp- 
stead, and kept a splendid equipage. 

It happened one day when Lady Owen was at her 
country lodgings, that a person well-dressed, in appear- 
ance a gentleman, called at her city house and asked 
the maid if there were any lodgings to be let there, 
and if her lady was at home } On the servant's evinc- 
ing some anger at so rude a question — '' Well," said 
he, " don't be displeased, your lady has had some 
thoughts of staying at her summer lodgings all the 
winter, and so would dispose of some apartments in 
town for the parliament season ; and I am directed 
by herself to look at the rooms, and give my answer : 
let me but just see them, I shall do you no harm. 
He then entered, and as it were pushed by her, and 
going into the first parlour, sat down in an easy chair, 
his servant waiting at the door, and as the maid did 
not apprehend any mischief she followed. 

When she came in he rose up, and looking about 
the room found fault with the furniture, and the dis- 
position of it ; all was too good, too rich, and far above 
the quality of the owner ; and he further said that 
the lady did not know what she did, that it was an 
expense she could not support, and that such a mode 
of living w^ould bring her and all the family to ruin 
and beggary. 

The servant now conducted him into another par- 
lour, where he found the same fault. He told her he 
was surprised that her lady lived at so extravagant a 
rate, as Sir John's estate could not maintain it, that it 
would run him into debt and ruin him ; and thus he 
would be undone by her extravagance. 

Upon this the maid retorted, and told him that this 
was foreign to what he came about ; if the lodgings 
were too good for him, that was his business indeed, 
else he had nothing to do with her lady's conduct or 



SIR JOHN AND LAB Y O WEN. 23 1 

the furniture of her house; that her master was a 
gentleman of great estate, and had large plantations 
in Jamaica ; that he constantly supplied her lady with 
money sufficient for her support, and for all her ex- 
penses, and she wondered that he should interfere. 

The stranger now calmly entered into conversation 
about Lady Owen and her way of living, and told 
many of the secrets of the family, so that the servant 
began to be more courteous. 

She tried several times to learn who he was, his 
rank, country, nam.e, and address ; but he always de- 
clined, only telling her he would go to Hampstead 
where Lady Owen lodged, and wait upon her himself; 
and, thanking the servant for her civility, he left the 
house, his servant following him. 

The girl now became much alarmed at these curious 
coincidences and circumstances. At length she went 
to give her lady an account of what had happened. 
On reaching Hampstead, she found her mistress very 
ill. At first she was refused admittance, but she urged 
extraordinary business. "What extraordinary busi- 
ness can you have } " said the lady's maid, tauntingly, 
" if your business was from the devil, you can't speak 
with my lady just now, for she is very ill and in bed." 

"From the devil," said Mary, "I don't know but it 
may, and I believe it is indeed ; so I must speak with 
my lady immediately." 

" Nay," replied the woman, " here has been one 
messenger too many from the devil already, I think ; 
sure you don't come of his errand too, do ye } " 

" I don't know whose errand I come of, but I am 
frightened out of my wits ; let me speak with my 
lady presently, or I shall die before I deliver my 
message." 

" Die ! " said the woman, " I wish my lady may not 
die before she hears it ; pry'thee, Mary, if it be any- 



232 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

thing to frighten her, don't tell it her just now, for she 
is almost frightened to death already." 

" Why,'' said Mary, " has my lady seen anything ? " 

'^ Ay, ay ! seen," said the woman, *^ she has seen 
and heard too ; there has been a man who has brought 
her dreadful tidings." 

They talked so loud that the lady heard the noise, 
and immediately rang the bell for her maid. When 
the woman went in, *' Who is that below t " said the 
lady, talking so earnestly, " is anybody come from 
London } " *' Yes, madam," said the woman, " here is 
Mary come to speak to your ladyship." *' Mary come," 
said she, surprised, " what can be the matter } why, 
sure, has she seen something too } Mercy on me, 
what's the matter } what does she say } " 

At length Mary entered the room, and the woman 
was ordered to withdraw. 

As soon as the door was shut, the lady burst into 
tears. " Oh, Mary," said she, *' I have had a dreadful 
visit this afternoon ; your master has been here." " My 
master ! why, madam, that's impossible." " Nay, it 
was your master, I am sure." 

In a word, the apparition of her husband had told 
her his estate would not support her expensive way 
of living, and that she would bring herself to misery 
and poverty, and much more to the same purpose as 
he had said to Mary. 

Mary immediately asked her ladyship in what man- 
ner he appeared ; and by the description that her 
mistress gave, it was exactly the same that had ap- 
peared to her, and desired to see the lodgings ; then 
Mary gave her ladyship a particular relation of what 
had happened to her also, and of the message she was 
charged to deliver. 

The lady was ultimately reduced, and obliged to 
sell her splendid furniture and equipage. But the 
most remarkable incident is that, just at this juncture. 



OMEN TO CHARLES II. 233 

Sir John Owen, the lady's husband, died in the West 
Indies. 

This relation is taken from a manuscript that was 
in the possession of Sir Owen Ap Owen, of Breck- 
nockshire ; and the circumstance happened in the 
beginning of the reign of Queen Anne. 



LXXVIIL 

Omen to Charles IL 

According to a tract published in 1680, Elizabeth 
Freeman, of Bishop's Hatfield, Herts, was visited by 
an apparition several times, which commanded her 
to deliver a message to Charles the Second. She 
swore before Sir Joseph Jordon and Dr. Lee, that on 
Monday, January 24, she saw the apparition of a 
woman who said to her, " The fifteenth of May is ap- 
pointed for the royal blood to be poisoned." Again 
the apparition desired her to tell King Charles not to 
remove his Parliament, and stand to his Council. 



LXXIX. 

A Hint to Judge Brograve. 

As Mr. Brograve of Hamel, near Puckeridge, Herts, 
when a young man, was one day riding in a lane, he 
suddenly received a violent blow on the cheek. He 
looked back, and saw that nobody was near him ; 
soon afterwards he received another blow. He turned 
back, and fell-to the study of the law ; and hence 
became a judge. This account I had from Sir John 
Penruddock,of Compton, chamberlain (our neighbour), 
whose lady was Judge Brograve's niece. — Aitbreys 
Miscellanies 



234 SIGNS BEFORE DEATH. 

LXXX. 

Death of Co^nmissioner Fostree. 

Mr. Fostree, one of the Commissioners of the 
Victualling Office, died in 1767. What is remarkable 
is that a Commissioner of the same Board having 
dreamed that one of their number had fallen down 
dead, and telling his dream next morning, the words 
were scarcely uttered when Mr. Fostree suddenly ex- 
pired. — A nmial Register, 

LXXXT. 

Lord Lyttleton, 

The subject of this narrative was the son of George 
Lord Lyttleton, and was alike distinguished for the 
raciness of his wit and the profligacy of his manners. 
The latter trait of his character has induced many 
persons to suppose that the apparition which he asserted 
he had seen, to have been the effect of a conscience 
quickened with remorse for innumerable vices and 
misdoings. The probability of the narrative has, 
consequently, been much questioned ; but in our own 
acquaintance we chance to know two gentlemen, one 
of whom was at Pitt Place, the seat of Lord Lyttleton, 
and the other in the immediate neighbourhood at the 
time of his Lordship's death ; and these bear ample 
testimony to the veracity of the whole affair. 

The several narratives correspond in material points ; 
and we shall now proceed to relate the most circum- 
stantial particulars written by a gentleman who was 
on a visit to his lordship : — 

" I was at Pitt Place, Epsom, when Lord Lyttleton 
died ; Lord Fortescue, Lady Flood, and the two Miss 
Amphletts, were also present. Lord Lyttleton had 



L ORD L YTTLE TON. 235 

not long been returned from Ireland, and frequently- 
had been seized with suffocating fits : he was attacked 
several times by them in the course of the preceding 
month, while he was at his house in Hill Street, 
Berkeley Square. It happened that he dreamt, three 
days before his death, that he saw a fluttering bird ; 
and afterwards that a woman appeared to him in 
white apparel, and said to him, * Prepare to die, you 
will not exist three days/* His lordship was much 
alarmed, and called to a servant from a closet ad- 
joining, who found him much agitated, and in a 
profuse perspiration : the circumstance had a con- 
siderable effect all the next day on his lordship's 
spirits. On the third day, while his lordship w^as 
at breakfast with the above personages, he said, " If I 
live over to-night, I shall have jockied the ghost, for 
this is the third day.' The whole party presently set 

* According to the narrative of a relative of Lady Lyttleton, the 
following is the version of the circumstances as related by Lord 
Lyttleton : — 

Two nights before, on his retiring to his bed, after his servant was 
dismissed and his light extinguished, he had heard a noise resembling 
the fluttering of a dove at his chamber window. This attracted his 
attention to the spot ; when, looking in the direction of the sound, he 
saw the figure of an unhappy female whom he had seduced and deserted, 
and who, when deserted, had put a violent end to her own existence, 
standing in the aperture of the window from which the fluttering sound 
had proceeded. The form approached the foot of the bed :— tlie room 
was preternaturally light ; the objects of the chamber were distinctly 
visible. Raising her hand and pointing to a dial which stood on the 
mantelpiece of the chimney, the figure, wdth a severe solemnity of 
voice and manner, announced to the appalled and conscience-stricken 
man, that, at that very hour, on the third day after the visitation, his 
life and his sins would be concluded, and nothing but their punishment 
remain, if he availed himself not of the warning to repentance which he 
had received. The eye of Lord Lyttleton glanced upon the dial ; the 
hand was on the stroke of twelve. Again the apartment was involved 
in total darkness : the warning spirit disappeared, and bore away at her 
departure all the lightness of heart and buoyancy of spirit, the ready 
wit, and vivacity of manner, which had formerly been the pride and 
ornament of the unhappy being to whom she had delivered her 
tremendous summons. 



236 S/GATS BEFORE DEA TH. 

off for Pitt Place, where they had not long arrived 
"before his lordship was visited by one of his accustomed 
fits : after a short interval however he recovered. He 
dined at five o'clock that day, and went to bed at 
eleven, when his servant was about to give him 
rhubarb and mint-water ; but his lordship, perceiving 
him stir it with a tooth-pick, called him a slovenly 
dog, and bid him go and fetch a tea-spoon. On the 
man's return, he found his master in a fit, and the 
pillow being placed high, his chin bore hard upon his 
neck. But the servant, instead of relieving his lord- 
ship on the instant from his perilous situation, ran, in 
his fright, and called out for help, but on his return he 
found his lordship dead." 

In explanation of this strange tale, it is said that 
Lord Lyttleton acknowledged previously to his death, 
that the woman he had seen in his dream was the 
mother of the two Miss Amphletts mentioned above, 
w^hom, together with a third sister then in Ireland, his 
lordship had seduced and prevailed on to leave their 
parent, who resided near his country residence in 
Shropshire. It is further stated that Mrs. Amphlett 
died of grief through the desertion of her children, at 
the precise time when the female vision appeared to 
his lordship ; and that, about the period of his dis- 
solution, a personage answering to his description 
visited the bed-side of the late Miles Peter Andrews, 
Esq. (who had been the friend and companion of 
Lord Lyttleton in his revels), and suddenly throwing 
open the curtains, desired Mr. Andrews to come to 
him. The latter, not knowing that his lordship had 
returned from Ireland, suddenly got up, when the 
phantom disappeared ! Mr. Andrews frequently de- 
clared that the alarm caused him to have a short fit 
of illness ; and in his subsequent visits to Pitt Place, 
no solicitations could ever prevail on him to take a 
bed there ; but he would invariably return, however 



APPARITION OF MR. BARLOW'S HUNTSMAN. 237 

late, to the Spread Eagle Inn at Epsom for the 
night. 

Sir Nathaniel Wraxall, in his Memoirs, has the fol- 
lowing passage : — 

" Dining at Pitt Place, about four years after the 
death of Lord Lyttleton, in the year 1783, I had the 
curiosity to visit the bedchamber, where the casement 
window, at which Lord Lyttleton asserted the dove 
appeared to flutter, was pointed out to me. At his 
stepmother's, the dowager Lady Lyttleton, in Portugal 
Street, Grosvenor Square, I have frequently seen a 
painting which she herself executed in 1780, expressly 
to commemorate the event : it hung in a conspicuous 
part of her drawing-room. There the dove appears at 
the window, while a female figure, habited in white, 
stands at the foot of the bed, announcing to Lord 
Lyttleton his dissolution. Every part of the picture 
was faithfully designed, after the description given to 
her by the valet de chambre w^ho attended him, to 
whom his master related all the circumstances/' 

An engraving, copied from this picture, has been 
published, and is still frequently to be met with in the 
collections of printsellers. — From H, Welby. 



LXXXII. 

Apparition of Mr. Barlow s Htmtsman, 

Last Christmas Day in the morning, Mr. Barlow 
was visited by a person who had the appearance and 
dress of his huntsman, who opened his curtains and 
asked him whether he proposed going out with the 
hounds that morning. Mr. Barlow told him that he 
was not then very well, and did not care to go himself, 
but that he, the huntsman, might take the dogs and 
go to such a mountain, where he might find a fox ; 
upon which the person left him. Mrs. Barlow hearing 



238 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 

this conversation, as she thought between the hunts- 
man and her husband, for she lay in a room contiguous 
to his, came sometime after to him and expostulated 
with him against sending out the hounds that day ; 
what answer he made her is not certain, but when he 
came down stairs he saw some of his favourite hounds 
about the house, which led him to an enquiry why 
the huntsman had left those hounds behind him. The 
servants protested the huntsman had not been there 
that morning, and that the dogs were all in the 
kennel ; upon which a servant was sent to Narbeth, 
where the huntsman lived, to see whether he had beenat 
Slebetch or not. The huntsman strenuously denied it, 
and said he was just got out of bed, and his wife affirmed 
the same. On being informed of what had happened 
to his master, both man and wife fell ill with the 
conceit ; the man is since pretty well recovered, but 
the woman still continues in a state of distraction. 
Barlow himself has been greatly shocked about it ; he 
insists on the reality of the appearance; and Mrs. 
Barlow affirms she heard the huntsman that morning 
talking with her husband. — Gentleman's Magazine, 
Jnly 1812 



LXXXIII. 

Evidence of an Apparition, 

EXTRACTED FROM THE RECORDS OF THE COURT OF JUSTICIARY 

IN EDINBURGH. 

Upon the loth of June, 1754, Duncan Terig, alias 
Clarke, and Alexander Bain Macdonald, were tried at 
Edinburgh before the Court of Justiciary, for the 
murder of Arthur Davis, sergeant in General Guise's 
regiment of foot, on the 28th of September, 1749. 

In the course of the proof for the crown, Alexander 
MTherson deposed that an apparation came one night 



EVIDENCE OF AN APPARITION-, 239 

when he was in bed, to his bed-side, and he supposing 
his visitor to be one Farquharson, his acquaintance, got 
up and followed it to the door, when it told him it was 
Sergeant Davies, and desired him to go to a place it 
pointed out to him in the Hill of Christie, where he 
would find its bones ; it further requested that he 
should go to Farquharson, who would accompany him 
to the hill and assist him in burying them ; that he 
went to the place pointed out, and there found a human 
body, of which the flesh was mostly consumed, but at 
that time he did not bury it. A few nights afterwards 
the ghost paid him a second visit, and reminded him 
of his promise to bury the bones ; and upon his enquir- 
ing who was the murderer, the ghost told him they 
were D. Clarke and Alexander McDonald. After this 
second apparition the witness and Farquharson went 
and buried the bones. 

Another witness, Isabella M'Hardie, deposed that 
she was in the same house with MTherson, and that 
she saw a naked man come into the house and go to- 
wards MTherson's bed. 

Donald Farquharson confirmed the testimony of 
MTherson, as to the finding of the body, and his as- 
sisting in burying it. He likewise deposed that 
MTherson told him of the ghost's visit, and also of its 
request to get him (Farquharson) to assist him in bury- 
ing the body. 

The prisoners were acquitted principally on account 
of the evidence of these witnesses, whose information 
from the ghost threw an air of discredit on the whole 
proof. The agent for the prisoners told the relator of 
this extraordinary story that as they were then both 
dead, he had no difficulty to declare that in his own 
opinion they were both guilty. — From H. Welby, 



240 SIGJVS BEFORE BE A TH. 

LXXXIV. 

Tlie Massacre of St, Bartholomew, 

This atrocious affair, perhaps one of the most bloody 
tragedies with which the page of history is stained, is 
on good authority said to have been prognosticated 
in several ways, and even a considerable time before 
its perpetration. 

Sinclair, in his Invisible World says, " The histories 
of the time are full of secret warnings and notices given 
by the apparitions of invisible agents in dreams. Ad- 
miral Coligni had no less than three particular notices 
given him by dreams that his life was in danger, and 
that he would be murdered if he stayed in Paris ; an 

express was sent him from the Count S -,at Saumur, 

to make his escape and flee for his life before it was 
too late : nay, it was even said that the King of 
Navarre, afterwards Henry IV. sent a private message 
to him to be gone, and if he staid one night longer he 
would find it impossible ; but it was all in vain, he was 
deaf and indolent to his own safety. 

"Others who were more obedient to the heavenly 
vision, more touched with the sense of their dan- 
ger, as the Count de Montgomery, the Vidame of Char- 
tres, Ee Caversac ; and who had severally, and some 
of them jointly, timely warning of their danger, 
mounted their horses and fled the night before, and 
foiling the vigilance of their pursuers made their es- 
cape/' 

Henry IV. said m.any times in public, that after the 
massacre of St. Bartholomew a swarm of ravens flew 
upon the top of the Louvre, and that during seven 
nights, the king himself and all the courtiers heard 
groans and dreadful cries at the same hour. He re- 
lated a yet more extraordinary circumstance; he said, 
that a few days previous to the massacre, while play- 



DEA TH OF HENR Y III. PROGNOS TIC A TED, 24 1 

ing at dice with the Duke of Alencono and the Duke 
of Guise, he saw drops of blood upon the table ; that 
twice he ordered them to be wiped off, and twice they 
appeared again, after which he left the game struck 
with horror. 

Mezeray in his History of France rtlditts the follow- 
ing fact : a few years before the massacre of St. Bar- 
tholomew, the guardian of the Convent of the Corde- 
liers of Saints whose name was Michael Crellet, hav- 
ing been condemned to be hanged by Admiral Coligni, 
foretold him that he would die assassinated, that his 
body would be thrown out of the windows, and that 
afterwards he would be hanged himself, which hap- 
pened to the Admiral at the massacre of St. Bartho- 
lomew. — Voltaire — Notes to Henriade, 



LXXXV. 

Death of Henry HI. of France Prognosticated. 

When Henry the Third, king of France, was as- 
sassinated at the siege of Paris by a monk of the order 
of St. Francis, whose name was Jacques Clement, it 
was publicly said, and believed by many, that this 
fanatical monster had received an order from heaven 
to destroy a king who was then fighting against the 
rebellious clergy. We read the following narrative in a 
book published by a jacobin friar, and printed at Troyes, 
in the province of Champaign, some time after the 
death of Henry the third ; we translate it from the old 
French language : — 

' So that God, hearing favourably the prayer of this 
faithful servant, whose name was brother Jacques Cle- 
ment, one night while he was in bed sent to him his 
angel in a vision, who appearing with a great light to 
the monk, and showing him a naked sword, addressed 
him with these words : — 

16 



242 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

"'Brother Jacques, I am the messenger of God Al- 
mighty, who Cometh to inform thee that by thee the 
tyrant of France must be put to death. Think thou 
therefore for thyself, and prepare thyself, as the crown 
of martyrdom is prepared for thee.' Having spoken 
thus, the vision disappeared and let him think on those 
words of truth/' — From H. Welby, 



LXXXVI. 

Alexander Peden. 

This extraordinary man was once imprisoned in the 
Bass, a stupendous crag in the Highlands of Scotland, 
used as a place of confinement for state and other pri- 
soners. 

"One Sabbath morning," says the narrator, "being 
in the public worship of God, a young girl about the 
age of fourteen years came to Peden's chamber-door 
mocking with loud laughter ; he said, ' poor thing, thou 
laughest and mockest at the worship of God, but ere 
long God shall write such a surprising judgment on 
thee, that shall stay this laughing,' &c. Very shortly 
after that, as she was walking on the rock, a blast of 
wind swept her off to the sea, where she was lost." — 
From H, Welby. 

LXXXVII. 

Remarkable Dream of the Celebrated Miss Hiitton. 

This lady was the daughter of the late Dr. Charles 
Hutton, one of the first mathematicians of his time. A 
few days before her death, which took place in Octo- 
ber 1794, she had a remarkable dream, which her 
friends thought so curious that they desired her to 
write it down, which she immediately did, literally in 
the following words : — 



CONVERSION OF HENR V DE JO YE USE. 243 

" I dreamed that I was dead, and that my soul had 
ascended into one of the stars ; there I found several 
persons whom I had formerly known, and among them 
some of the nuns whom I was particularly attached to 
when in France.* They told me, when they received 
me, they were glad to see me, but hoped I should not 
stay with them long, the place being a kind of purga- 
tory ; and that all the stars were for the reception of 
different people's souls, a different star being allotted 
for every kind of bad temper and vice ; all the sharp 
tempers went to one star, the sulky to another, the 
peevish to another ; and so on. Everybody in each 
star being of the same temper, no one would give up 
to another, and there was nothing but dissension and 
quarrels among them. Some of those who received 
me, taking offence at the information my friends were 
giving to me, a child, it made a quarrel, which at length 
became so rude and noisy that it awoke me/' — Ge7i- 
tlemen's Magazine. 



LXXXVIIL 

Conversion of Henry De Joyeicse, 

Vicieux, penitent, Courtier, Solitaire, 

It prit, quitta, reprit la cuirasse et la haire. — Voltaire. 

These lines admirably describe the character and 
fortune of Henry de Joyeuse Count of Bouchage, and 
second brother of the Duke of Joyeuse, who was killed 
at the battle of Contras. Voltaire relates the follow- 
ing fact concerning this individual : — 

" One day, at four o'clock in the morning, passing 
by the convent of the Capuchin Friars at Paris after a 
night spent in debauchery, he fancied that he heard 
angels singing matins in the convent. Struck with 

* She had been for two years educated as a nun there. 



244 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

this thought, he became a capuchin friar, and took 
the name of Brother Angel. Afterwards he left the 
frock, and fought against Henry IV. The Duke of 
Mayenne appointed him Governor of Languedoc, and 
created him a duke and peer, and a marshal of France. 
At length he made his peace with the king, but one 
day, being with his Majesty on a balcony, under which 
a great crowd were assembled ; * Cousin,' said Henry 
IV. ' those people appear to me very pleased to see 
together an apostate and a renegade/ These words 
of the king induced Joyeuse to return to his convent, 
where he died." 



LXXXIX. 

Apparition to Ninon de UEnclos.^ 

In the year 1633, as the famous Mademoiselle Ninon 
de L'Enclos one day sat alone in her chamber, her 
servant announced the arrival of a stranger who 
desired to speak with her but refused to tell his name. 
The young lady made answer that she was engaged 
with company. " No, no,'' said the stranger to the 
lacquey, " I know well that Mademoiselle is by her- 
self, and for that very reason call upon her at present. 
Go, tell her, I have secrets of the last moment to im- 
part, and cannot take a refusal." This extraordinary 
message by exciting female curiosity procured the 
stranger admittance. He was of low stature, of an 

* Ninon de L'Enclos was born at Paris, of a noble family, in 1615. 
Her mother was anxious to place her in a convent, but was prevented 
by her father, who was a man of gaiety. She lost her parents at the 
age of fifteen, and possessing the most fascinating personal beauty, she 
was followed by some of the first men of her time, but would never 
unite herself in marriage. She died at the age of ninety, and what is 
most singular, preserved her charms to the last. A remarkable circum- 
stance is related of one of her sons, who having been bred without 
knowing his mother, conceived a desire for her, but having discovered 
the secret of his birth, he stabbed himself in her presence. 



APPARITION TO NINON DE VENCLOS, 245 

ungracious aspect, and his grey hairs bespoke age. 
He was dressed in black, without a sword, wore a 
calotte (a small leather cap which covered the tonsure) 
and had a large patch on his forehead : in his left 
hand he held a very slender cane ; his features were 
expressive, and his eyes sparkled vivacity. 

"Madam," said he, on entering the apartment, 
"please to make your waiting maid retire; my words 
are not for third persons to hear." 

Mdlle UEnclos was much alarmed at this preamble ; 
but reflecting she had to do with a decrepit old man, 
mustered up some resolution, and dismissed her maid. 

"Let not my visit alarm you. Madam," said the 
stranger. " It is true I do not honour all indiscrimin- 
ately with my presence, but be assured you have 
nothing to fear. All I beg is, that you would hear me 
with confidence and attention. You see before you a 
man whom the earth obeys, and whom nature has 
invested with the power of dispensing her gifts. I pre- 
sided at your birth ; the lot of mortals depends upon 
my rod ; and I have condescended to ask what lot you 
would wish for yourself; the present is but the dawn 
of your brilliant days. Soon you shall arrive at that 
period, when the gates of the world shall fly open to 
receive you ; for it depends wholly upon yourself to 
be the most illustrious, and the most prosperous 
lady of your age. I submit to your choice supreme 
honours, immense riches, and eternal beauty. Take 
which you choose and depend upon it, there exists 
not a mortal who can make you the same ample offer." 

" That I verily believe," replied the fair one in a fit 
of laughter, " your gifts are so very splendid." 

" I hope. Madam, you have too much good sense to 
make sport of a stranger. Once more, I seriously 
make you the same offer, but decide instantly." 

" Then truly, sir, since your are so good as to give 
me my choice, I hesitate not to fix upon eternal beauty ; 



246 SIGNS BEFORE BE A TH, 

but how, pray, am I to obtain such an inestimable 
prize ? " 

" Madam, all I ask is, that you should put down 
your name in my tablets, and swear inviolable secrecy." 

Mademoiselle de L'Enclos instantly complied, and 
wrote her name upon a black memorandum book with 
red edges. The old man at the same time struck her 
gently upon the left shoulder with his wand. 

"This now," resumed he, *' is the whole ceremony ; 
henceforth, rely upon eternal beauty, and the sub- 
jugation of every heart. I bestow on you unlimited 
powers of charming, — the most precious privilege a 
tenant of this nether orb can enjoy. During the six 
thousand years that I have perambulated this globe, I 
have only found four who were worthy of such rare 
felicity. They were Semiramis, Helen, Cleopatra, and 
Diana of Poitenx ; you are the fifth, and I am determined 
you shall be the last. You shall be ever fresh and 
ever blooming: charms and adorations shall track 
3^our steps : whoever beholds you shall that instant be 
captivated, and they whom you love shall reciprocally 
love you ; you shall enjoy uninterrupted health and 
longevity without appearing old. Some females seem 
born to bewitch the eye, and some the heart ; but you 
alone are fated to unite these different qualities : you 
shall taste of pleasure at an age when others of your 
sex are beset with decrepitude ; your name shall live 
while the world endures. I am aware, Madam, that 
all this will appear to you like enchantment, but ask 
me no questions, for I dare not answer a word. In 
the course of your life you shall see me once again, 
and that ere fourscore years be run. Tremble then ! 
for three short days shall close your existence ! 
Remember, my name is Night Walker.'' With these 
words he vanished, and left the possessor of eternal 
beauty shivering with fear. 

This lady of amorous memory, the narrator adds, 



APPARITION TO MISS HEPBURN. 247 

had a second visit from the gentleman in black in the 
year 1706, as she lingered on her deathbed. In spite 
of the efforts of servants he had found his way into 
her apartment ; he stood by her bed, opened the cur- 
tains, and gazed. The patient turned pale, and 
shrieked aloud. The unwelcome guest after re- 
minding her that the third day would be that of her 
dissolution, exhibited her own signature, and disap- 
peared, as he exclaimed with a hideous voice, ''Tremble, 
for it is past, and you are to fall.'' The third day 
came, and de L'Enclos was no more. — From H, VVelby, 



XC. 

Apparition to Miss Hepburn of Garleton, in the 
Scottish Highlmids. 

Rather more than fifty years ago, an old maiden 
lady, Miss Janet Hepburn, sister to Colonel Hepburn, 
of Lufifness and Congalton, of good family, was the 
tenant of one of the now decayed wings of the mansion 
house of Garleton. She is described as a tall thin 
figure, who wore a black silk cloak and bonnet, and 
walked with a large cane ornamented with a gold 
chain and tassel. She also displayed a great deal of 
eccentricity in her conduct, for she often walked at 
dead of night and early dawn, till she was so wetted 
by the dews and the long dank grass that on her re- 
turn home she had to shift her clothes or go to bed. 
Add to this that she had the misfortune to be a papist, 
and was very ostensible in her devotions, and we need 
not wonder that she was regarded by the superstitious 
of the neighbourhood with no small degree of terror 
and aversion. 

Having sauntered out one morning before sunrise, 
she sat down on the craggy hill, when '' an odd looking 
man," as she termed him, approached her. She waved 



248 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

her cane to keep off the intruder, who, after muttering 
something, went away. The lady immediately re- 
turned home ; but during the day could not banish 
the unwelcome visitor from her thoughts. At night, 
after locking the outer door, and placing the key be- 
low her pillow, she went to bed as usual, at a late hour. 
In vain she endeavoured to compose herself to sleep, 
and to dissipate the troublesome thoughts that arose 
in her mind ; at length she heard the outer door open, 
and a heavy foot come tramping up the creaking stairs ; 
something opened the door and entered the room ad- 
joining to her bed-closet ; the door of the latter next 
opened, and she again beheld the unwelcome visitor 
— the spectre of the morning. 

She was only able to articulate, " Who comes there ? " 
when the stranger replied, **this is my native place, 
and I have a long history to tell you!'' The lady 
thinking the intruder was a robber, pointed to a small 
box containing her keys, and bade him take what he 
wanted and be gone. The mysterious personage still 
wished to speak ; but as she waved her hand, and in- 
clined not to listen, he dissappeared. As he retired, 
she again heard the heavy foot tramping down the 
creaking stairs, till the slashing of the outer door an- 
nounced his exit 

Although the lady passed a sleepless night, she was 
unw^illing to disturb the inmates of her house, which 
consisted only of a maiden lady and a domestic. Next 
morning when the servant came for the key of the 
outer door she told her what had happened, and that 
she imagined robbers had been in the house. The 
maid had also the imperfect recollection of some voice ; 
but it was like the voice of a dream. At her lady's 
desire she immediately went to the press where the 
family plate was deposited, but found it unmolested ; 
the silver wine cup stood on the mantlepiece, below 
the crucifix, untouched, and the outer door remained 



APPARITION TO MR, WESTON. 249 

fast ; in short, every thing stood in its place as on the 
preceding evening. 

It was the impression of the less superstitious part 
of the neighbourhood that the old lady was superan- 
nuated, and that the ghastly visitant was the creature 
of a dream. Be this as it may, on that day twelve- 
month, the lady of Garleton was seized with a convul- 
sive fit in the evening, and expired about the same 
hour at which she had twelvemonths before had an 
interview with the unwelcome visitor. I have only to 
add, that the person from whom I had the preceding 
story is of unquestionable veracity, and that she had 
often heard it from the lady's own lips. 

The ruins of the mansion house still remain at the 
foot of Garleton hills, and are a fine miniature specimen 
of Highland scenery. — Fro7n H, Welby, 



XCI. 

Apparition to Mr, Weston^ of old Swinford, 
Worcestershire, 

In the summer of 1759, Mr. Weston was walking 
one evening in the beautiful park of Lord Lyttleton, 
at Hagley (characterised in '' Thomson's Seasons," the 
British Tempe), when being overtaken by a shower of 
rain he ran into a grotto, and stood beneath a spread- 
ing oak, under the shade of which several cattle were 
grazing. 

He had not been above ten minutes in that situation, 
before he saw the form of a man pass over the brook 
close to the shade. Supposing it to be a poor pea- 
sant who had long worked for him, he called him by 
name, but received no answer ; and the apparition 
quickly disappearing, his mind was much agitated. 
Regardless of the storm, Mr. Weston withdrew from 
his retreat, and walked round a rising hill, to endeavour 



2 5 O SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 

to discover the form which had presented itself to him. 
That, however, had not the effect desired ; but one 
abundantly more satisfactory it certainly had, for just 
as he had gained the summit of a hill on his return to 
the grotto, a tremendous flash of lightning darted its 
forked fury on the venerable oak, shivered it to pieces, 
and killed two of the cattle under its boughs. 

On Mr. Weston's return to Swinford, he found that 
the death of the labourer was just announced in the 
neighbourhood. He instantly related the circumstance 
to his friend. He had the body decently interred at 
his own expense ; and afterwards contributed to the 
support of the widow, not only by remitting a year's 
rent for her cottage and piece of ground, but also by 
settling a small annuity upon her till she should marry 
again. — Fro7n H, Welby. 



xcn. 

Second Sight, 

Superstition has been universally attributed to the 
Scottish character, and it forms a prominent feature 
in its history. The author of Waverley has availed 
himself of their most popular Northern legends, and 
on them he may be said to have laid the basis of his 
literary fame ; and they may well be considered as 
adding a peculiar charm to Scottish literature. 

Among these traditions none are better authenti- 
cated than those of " Second Sight," which subject has 
been specially treated by various authors at consider- 
able length. 

Martin gives the following account of it : — ■* 

" The second sight is a singular faculty of seeing 
an otherwise invisible object, without any previous 

* Description of the Western Islands of Scotland. 8vo. 1803. 



SECOND SIGHT. 2 SI 

means used by the person that uses it for that end ; 
the vision makes such a lively impression upon the 
seers, that they neither see nor think of anything else 
except the vision, as long as it continues ; and then 
they appear pensive or jovial, according to the object 
which was represented to them. 

" The seer knows neither the object, time, nor place 
of a vision before it appears; and the same object is 
often seen by different persons, living at a consider- 
able distance from one another. The true way of 
judging as to the time and circumstance of an object 
is by observation ; for several persons of judgment, 
without this faculty, are more capable to judge of the 
design of a vision than a novice that is a seer. If an 
object appear in the day or night, it will come to pass 
sooner or later accordingly. 

" If an object is seen early in a morning (which is 
not frequent), it will be accomplished in a few hours 
afterwards. If at noon, it will be commonly accom- 
plished that very day. If in the evening, perhaps that 
night ; if after candles be lighted it will be accom- 
plished that night : the later always in accomplish- 
ment, by weeks, months, and sometimes years, ac- 
cording to the time of night the vision is seen. 

" When a shroud is perceived about one, it is a sure 
prognostic of death; the time is judged according to 
the height of it about the person ; for if it is seen 
above the middle, death is not expected for the space 
of a year, and perhaps some months longer; and as 
it is frequently seen to ascend higher towards the 
head, death is concluded to be at hand within a few 
days, if not hours, as daily experience confirms. 
Examples of this kind were shown me, when the per- 
sons of whom the observations were then made, en- 
joyed perfect health. 

" One instance was lately foretold by a seer that 
was a novice, concerning the death of one of my 



252 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 

acquaintance ; this was communicated to a few only, 
and with great confidence : I being one of the num- 
ber did not in the least regard it, until the death of 
the person about the time foretold did confirm me of 
the certainty of the prediction. The novice men- 
tioned above, is now a skilful seer, as appears from 
many late instances ; he lives in the parish of St. 
Mary, the most northern in Skye. 

" If two or three women are seen at once, near a 
man's left hand, she that is next him will undoubtedly 
be his wife first, and so on, whether all three, or the 
man, be single or married at the time of the vision or 
not ; of this there are several late instances among 
those of my acquaintance. It is an ordinary thing for 
them to see a man that is to come to the house 
shortly after ; and if he is not of the seer's ac- 
quaintance, yet he gives such a lively description of 
his stature, complexion, habit, &c. that upon his 
arrival he answers the character given him in all 
respects. 

'' It is ordinary with them to see houses, gardens, 
and trees in places void of all three ; and this in pro- 
gress of time used to be accomplished : as at Mogshot, 
in the Isle of Skye, where there were but a few sorry 
cow-houses, thatched with straw, yet in a very few 
years after the vision, which appeared often, was 
accomplished, by the building of several good houses 
on the very spot represented by the seers, and by the 
planting of orchards there. 

" To see a spark of fire fall upon one's arm or breast 
is a forerunner of a dead child to be seen in the arms 
of those persons ; of which there are several fresh 
instances. 

" To see a seat empty at the time of one's sitting in 
it is a presage of that person's death soon after. 

*' When a novice, or one that has lately obtained 
the second sight, sees a vision in the night-time with- 



SECOND SIGHT, 25^ 

out doors, and comes near a fire, he presently falls 
into a swoon. 

*' Some find themselves as it were in a crowd of 
people, having a corpse which they carry along with 
them ; and after such visions the seers come in sweat- 
ing, and describe the people that appeared : if there 
be any of their acquaintance among them, they give 
an account of their names, as also of the bearers, but 
they know nothing concerning the corpse." 

Dr. Johnson, in his " Journey to the Hebrides/' says : 
" The second sight is an impression made either by 
the mind upon the eye, or by the eye upon the mind, 
by which things distant or future are perceived and 
seen as if they were present. A man on a journey far 
from home, falls from his horse ; another, who is per- 
haps at work about the house, sees him bleeding on 
the ground, commonly with a landscape of the place 
where the accident befalls him. Another seer, driving 
home his cattle, or wandering in idleness, or musing 
in the sunshine, is suddenly surprised by the ap- 
pearance of a bridal ceremony, or funeral procession, 
and counts the mourners or attendants, of whom, if 
he knows them, he relates their names ; if he knows 
them not, he can describe the dresses. Things distant 
are seen at the instant when they happen. Of things 
future I know not that there is any rule for deter- 
mining the time between the sight and the event. 

'' By the term second sight seems to be meant a 
mode of seeing superadded to that which nature be- 
stows. In the Earse it is called Taisch ; which signi- 
fies, likewise, a spectre, or a vision. I know not, nor 
is it likely, that the Highlanders ever examined, 
whether by Taisch, used for the second sight, they 
mean the power of seeing, or the thing seen. I do 
not find it to be true, as it is reported, that to the 
second sight nothing is presented but phantoms of 
evil. Good seems to have the same proportion in 



254 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 

those visionary scenes as it obtains in real life : almost 
all remarkable events have evil for their basis, and are 
either miseries incurred, or miseries escaped. Our 
sense is so much stronger of what we suffer, than of 
what we enjoy, that the ideas of pain predominate in 
almost every mind. What is recollection but a re- 
vival of vexations, or history but a record of wars, 
treasons, and calamities } Death, which is considered 
as the greatest evil, happens to all. The greatest 
good be it what it may, is the lot but of a part. That 
they should often see death is to be expected, because 
death is an event frequent and important. But they 
see likewise more pleasing incidents. A gentleman 
told me, that when he had once gone far from his own 
island, one of his labouring servants predicted his re- 
turn, and described the livery of his attendants, which 
he had never worn at home ; and which had been, 
without any previous design, occasionally given him." 
We now proceed to quote a few instances of this 
remarkable faculty : — 



A gentleman travelling in the Highlands, in the 
year 1654, with a retinue of servants, ordered one of 
them to precede him, and bespeak accommodation for 
him at an inn in the neighbouring town. On entering 
the house the man suddenly stepped back, and fell by 
a stone, against which he struck his foot. On his 
master questioning him as to his fears, he said he must 
not lodge in that house. The master asked him the 
reason, when he replied, because a dead corpse would 
very shortly be carried out of it ; and that several 
persons met him (in vision) at the door carrying the 
body, when he cried out. He conjured his master 
not to lodge in the house, which induced the latter 
to inquire if there was any sick person there, when he 
was answered in the negative. The landlord, a strong 



SECOND SIGHT, 255 

healthy Highlander, died the next day of an apoplec- 
tic fit. 

11. 

In January, 1652, Lieut.-Col. Munro was quartered 
in a public house in Ferrinlia, in Rosse. The Colonel 
and a friend were one evening seated by the fire, with 
a vacant chair on the left of the former. In the 
corner of a capacious chimney were two Highlanders 
who had arrived that evening. While one of them 
was in conversation with Monro's friend, the other 
looked strangely towards the Colonel: on being asked 
his meaning he desired him to rise from that chair, 
because it was an unlucky one. On being asked 
why, he said there was a dead man in the chair next 
to it. The Colonel replied, " Well, if he be in the 
chair next me, I may keep my own ; but describe the 
man." The Highlander replied that he was a tall 
man, wearing a long grey coat, with boots, one of his 
legs hanging over the arm of the chair, his head hang- 
ing on the other side, and his arm hanging down as if 
broken. At that time there were some English troops 
quartered in the adjoining village. About two days 
afterwards four or five of these troops rode by the 
door of the inn, who, with the assistance of some ser- 
vants, were carrying one of their comrades, who had 
his arm broken. They brought him into the hall, and 
set him in the chair which the Highlander had singu- 
larized to Colonel Monro a few days previous. 

III. 

A gentleman connected with the family of Dr. Fer- 
rier, an officer in the army, in the middle of the 
eighteenth century, was quartered, early in life, near 
the castle of a gentleman in the north of Scotland 
who was supposed to possess the second sight. 
Strange rumours were afloat respecting the old 



256 SIGNS BEFORE DEATH, 

chieftain : he had spoken to an apparition which ran 
along the battlements of the house, and had never 
been cheerful afterwards : his prophetic vision excited 
surprise, which was favoured by his retired habits. 
One day, while he was reading a play to the ladies of 
this family, the chief, who had been walking across 
the room, stopped suddenly, and assumed the look of 
a seer ; he rang the bell, and ordered the groom to 
saddle a horse, to proceed immediately to a seat in 
the neighbourhood, and to enquire after the health of 

Lady ; if the account were favourable, he then 

directed him to call at another castle, to ask after 
another lady whom he named. The reader im- 
mediately closed his book, and declared that he would 
not proceed till these abrupt orders were explained, 
as he was convinced they were produced by the 
second sight. The chief was very unwilling to ex- 
plain himself, but at length he owned that the door 
had appeared to open, and that a little woman, with- 
out a head, had entered the room ; that the apparition 
indicated the sudden death of some person of his 
acquaintance, and the only two persons who resembled 
the figure were those ladies after whose health he had 
sent to inquire. 

A few hours afterwards the servant returned, with 
an account that one of the ladies had died of an 
apoplectic fit, about the time when the vision 
appeared. 

Aubrey, Beaumont, Baxter, Glanvill, Scott, &c., 
abound with similar narratives, but contain none of 
less impeached veracity than the preceding. — From 
H. Welby. 

XCIII. 

Duel Prevented. 
Thomas Horton, Esq., a gentleman of fortune, had 



DUEL PRE VENTED. 257 

an intrigue with a lady, in which his younger brother 
was his rival. The lady was handsome, and of 
respectable fortune, but much inferior to the eldest 
son of the family, whose expectant fortune was near 
two thousand pounds per annum, after the death of 
his father, Sir George Horton. 

The younger gentleman was really in love with the 
lady, and inclined to marry her, if he could bring his 
father to consent to it, and had two or three times 
spoken to the knight on the subject ; nor was his 
father averse to it, except that he thought her fortune 
too small. 

The rivalry between the two brothers continued for 
some time ; several quarrels took place, when one 
evening, the younger brother received a challenge 
from the elder, appointing time and place to meet the 
next morning at five o'clock. The father, v/ho was 
then living, could know nothing of what had passed 
between his sons, for he was at his seat in Wiltshire, 
sixty miles from London, when this affair took place. 

On the morning appointed they accordingly met, 
when the younger brother seeing his antagonist at a 
distance said, " I am sure I am within time ; don't be 
impatient, Tom, I'll be with you presently." He had 
not proceeded many steps, before he saw his brother 
(as he still thought him to be) advancing as if to meet 
him, with his drawn sword in his hand. 

" You are very nimble with your sword," said he, 
"what, did you think I would not give you time to 
draw } " But how was he surprised when he came up 
to him and found it was not his brother, but his 
father ; and that, instead of a sword in his hand, he 
had a small cane, such as the old knight generally 
walked with. 

He was the more at a stand, because he supposed 
his father was, as is said above, at his seat in Wilt- 
shire, above sixty miles off; however, he v/as out of 

17 



258 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH, 

doubt, when he not only saw him nearer at hand, but 
when his father spoke to him. 

" Why how now, Jack," said the old gentleman, 
'' what ! challenge,* and draw upon your father ? " 

*' You may be sure. Sir," said he, " I did not suppose 
it was you. I make no doubt but you know whom I 
expected here ; it is a poor cowardly shift for him first 
to challenge his brother, and then send you in his 
stead." '' It is no time to talk now, Jack," said the 
father, " I have your challenge here, and I am come to 
fight you, therefore draw." " Draw !" says Jack, 
" what, upon my father ! Heaven forbid ! no, I'll be 
murdered first." 

But his father advancing again, with a furious coun- 
tenance, Jack pulled out his sword from the scabbard, 
and throwing it on the ground, cried out, " there, Sir, 
take it, kill me with it ; what do you mean } " But 
his father running upon him, Jack turned from him, 
and seemed resolved to run : at which his father 
stooped, took up his sword, and stood still. The 
young gentleman, surprised and amazed at the ren- 
counter, knew not what to do ; but retiring, observed 
that his father was gone. He, however, resolved, 
though he had no sword, he would go to the place 
appointed, and see if his brother was come. Accord- 
ingly he returned to the place, and waited near two 
hours there, but heard nothing of his brother ; but on 
coming away he found his sword lying in the place 
where it was thrown down. This surprised him still 
more, and at length he took up the sword, and went 
home wondering at the meaning of all this. 

He had not been long at home, before his brother's 
servant came to his lodgings with a civil message, to 
ask him from his brother, if he had not met with some- 
thing extraordinary that morning, and to tell him, 

* When he thought he saw his brother with his sword in his haad, he 
laid his hand on his own sword. 



DUEL PREVENTED. 259 

that he (his brother) was very ill or he would have 
called on him. The oddness of this message added 
to his surprise ; he called the messenger up stairs, and 
the following dialogue ensued : — 

y. What's the matter, Will ? how is my brother ? 

Will. My master gives his service to you, Sir, and 
sent me, to know how you are. 

J, Indeed; I'm a little out of order; but how is 
your master, what's the matter t 

Will. Why 'truly and't please you. Sir, I don't know 
what's the matter, I think my master has been fright- 
ened this morning. 

J. Frightened, Will ! with what, pr'ythee t your 
master is not easily frightened. 

Will Why no, and't it please you, I know he is not ; 
but there has been something extraordinary; I dont 
know how it is, for I was not with, my master ; but 
they talk in the house, that he has seen his father, or 
seen an apparition in his father's shape. 

J. Why so have I too, Will ; now you frighten me 
indeed, for I made light of it before ; why, it was my 
father to be sure. 

Will. No, Sir, alas, your father ! why, my old 
master was at Sarum, in Wiltshire, and very ill in his 
bed but last Friday ; I came from him, my master 
sent me to him on an errand, 

J. And did you see him yourself. Will } 

Will. I'll take my oath I saw him, and spoke to him, 
in his bed and very ill he was ; I hope your worship 
will believe I know my old master. 

J. Yes, y^-^, you know him, no doubt, Will I think 
you lived four years with him, did you not } 

Will I dressed and undressed him five years and a 
half, and't please you ; I think I may say I know him 
in his clothes or out of them. 

J. Well, William, and I hope you will allow that I 



260 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

know my father too, or him I have called father these 
thirty years. 

Will, Yes, to be sure, and't please you. 

J. Well, then, tell my brother, it was either my 
father of the devil ; I both saw him and spoke with 
him, and I am frightened out of my wits. 

The servant returned with this message to his master 
who immediately went with Will to see his brother. 

As soon as he came into the room to his brother, 
'' dear Jack,'' said he, '' we have both played the fool, 
but forgive me my part, and tell me what has 
happened.'' The servant had previously acquainted 
the elder brother with the appearance of his father to 
him that morning. 

The other then related his story to the same 
purpose ; that as he was coming to the place ap- 
pointed, his father met him and asked him whither he 
was going ; that he put him off, and told him he w^as 
going to Kensington to meet some gentlemen there, 
who were to go with him to Hampton Court. That 
upon this, his father seemed very angry ; and said 
that he knew his errand as well he did himself ; that 
he was going to murder his younger brother, and that 
he was come to satisfy his fury himself, and that he 
should murder him, not his brother. 

The brothers now becam^e reconciled ; but Jack was 
uneasy about this being the real appearance of his 
father, and the words of his brother's man William 
ran in his mind all that night ; for as to this first 
meeting, it was so taken up with the ecstacy of their 
reconciliation, that they had no time for any thing 
else ; but the next m.orning the young gentleman 
went to see his brother to return his visit. 

The young men were now very uneasy about one 
part of the story ; accordingly they set off for their 
father's residence. They found him at home, and 
very ill, nor had he even been from home, but was 



THE SAMPFORD GHOST, 261 

greatly concerned for the safety of his sons, upon the 
following occasion : — 

One night he was surprised in his sleep with a 
dream, or rather a vision, that his two sons had fallen 
out about a mistress ; that they had quarrelled so as 
to challenge each other, and were gone into the fields 
to fight ; but that somebody had given him notice of 
it, and he had got up in the morning at four o'clock to 
meet and prevent them. Upon this dream, he awaked 
in great disorder and terror ; however, finding it but a 
dream he had composed his mind and gone to sleep 
again, but he dreamed it again. That in consequence 
of this dream he had sent a servant to ascertain if 
there had been any such breach ; and earnestly to 
press them, if any breach had happened, that they 
would consent to let him mediate between them. 
This was the contents of a letter which arrived in town 
a few hours after they were set out. It should be here 
mentioned that the old gentleman could not have 
been in London, for he had scarce been a whole day 
from off his bed. — Sinclair s Invisible World, 



XCIV. 

The Sampford Ghost, 

The narrative of the Sampford apparition is, we be- 
lieve, the last of its kind on record, of authenticated 
character. It excited intense interest in the County of 
Devon, which was not a little increased by the circum- 
stance of a clergyman of the established church, the 
Rev. C. C. Colton, publishing an account of the whole 
transaction. It took place at the house of one Mr. 
John Chave, in the village of Sampford Reverell, Devon, 
about five miles from Tiverton, in the year 1 8 10. 

As is usual on all such occasions a variety of wilful 
misrepresentations were propagated on the subject ; 



262 SIGNS BEFORE DEA Til, 

but the history published by Mr. Golton is certainly 
entitled to our preference, on account of the perspicuity 
which characterises its details, and with this we shall 
proceed forthwith. 

Mr. Colton says, speaking in September 1810, the 
house became extremely troublesome, although long 
before that time some very unaccountable things had 
occasionally taken place in it. An apprentice boy had 
expressed himself often dreadfully alarmed by the 
apparition of a woman, and had heard some extraordi- 
nary sound in the night, but little or no attention was 
paid to it But about April the inhabitants of the 
house were alarmed in the following manner : noises 
and blows by day were heard, extremely loud, in every 
apartment of the house. On going up stairs and 
stamping on any of the boards of the floor in any room, 
say five or six times, or more, corresponding blows, 
but generally louder and more in number, would be 
instantly returned ; the vibrations of these boards 
caused by the violence of the blows would be sensibly 
felt through a shoe or boot on the sole of the foot, and 
the dust was thrown up from the boards that were 
beaten with such velocity as to affect the eyes of the 
spectators. 

At mid-day the cause of these effects would an- 
nounce its approach, by amazingly loud knocking in 
some apartment or other of the house, above stairs or 
below, as might happen, for at times more than a 
dozen witnesses have been present at once. 

These noises would very often, and in repeated in- 
stances, absolutely follow the persons through any of 
the upper apartments, and faithfully answer the stamp- 
ing of their feet wherever they went, And if persons 
were in different rooms, and one stamped with his foot 
in one room, the sound was in an instant repeated in 
another room, and these phenomena by day continued 
almost incessantly for about five weeks, when they 



THE SAMPFORD GHOST. 263 

gradually gave place to others still more curious and 
alarming. There were two apartments in this house, 
and all females who slept in either of these apartments 
(with the exception of one single instance), experi- 
enced, some of them all, and all of them some, of the 
following sensations : they were most dreadfully 
beaten, as bye-standers could hear and witness. I am 
quite certain I have myself heard more than two hun- 
dred blows given in the course of a night. The blows 
given can be compared to nothing but a very strong 
man striking with the greatest force he is master of, 
with a closed-fist on the bed ; they left great soreness, 
and visible marks ; I saw a swelling at least as big as 
a turkey's egg on the cheek of Ann Mills ; she volun- 
tarily made oath that she was alone in the bed when 
she received the blows from some invisible hand. Mrs. 
Dennis and Mary Woodbury have both sworn volun- 
tarily before me and Mr. Sully the exciseman and Mr. 
Govett a surgeon, that they were so much beaten as 
to experience a peculiar kind of numbness, and were 
sore many days after ; and that the shrieks he and 
Mr. Govett had heard, were so terrible that they could 
not be counterfeited. 

Mr. Chave, the occupier of the house, deposed, that 
one night the two servants were so much agitated that 
they refused to sleep any longer in their apartment ; 
Mr. Chave permitted them in the dead of the night to 
bring their bed and bed-clothes into the room where 
he and Mrs. Chave slept ; after they had been quiet 
about half an hour, and the light put out, a large iron 
candle-stick began to move most rapidly over the 
whole room. He could hear no footsteps, but in the 
act of ringing the bell, the candlestick was violently 
thrown at his head, which it narrowly missed. Mr. 
Searle, late keeper of the county gaol, and a friend, 
watched one night ; they saw a sword, placed by them 
on the foot of a bed with a large folio Testament 



264 SIGNS BEFORE DEATH. 

placed on it, thrown violently against the wall, seven 
feet off. Mr. Taylor deposed that in going into the 
room in consequence of the shrieks of the women, the 
sword that was before lying on the floor, he saw 
clearly suspended in the centre of the room, with its 
point towards him : in about a minute it fell to the 
ground with a loud noise. 

On September 14th, Ann Mills deposed on oath 
before Mr. Sully and m}/self, that one night while 
striking a light she received a very severe blow on 
the back, and the tinder-box was forcibly wrenched 
out of her hands and thrown into the centre of the 
room. 

Mr. Sully the exciseman and his wife are ready to 
swear to the truth of what they have heard of these 
noises and thumpings, &c., James Dodds, cooper, 
voluntarily made oath, September 14th, that in his 
workshop adjoining Chave's house, he had constant 
opportunities of hearing these noises. 

The Rev. Gentlemen said the names of the females 
that have suffered are as follows, Mary Dennis, sen., 
Mary Dennis, jun., Martha Woodbury, Ann Mills, Mrs. 
Pitts, and Sally Case. 

" I have seen,'*' he added, *' a sword when placed in 
the hands of some of these women, repeatedly and 
violently wrested from them after a space of a few 
minutes, and throw^n with a very loud noise sometimes 
into the middle of the room, sometimes still more 
violently against the wall. This sword I have heard 
taken up, and the bed beaten with it as if by shaking 
the handle in a particular manner; I have placed a 
large folio Greek Testament, weighing eight or nine 
pounds, on the bed ; it has been repeatedly thrown 
into the centre of the room. Mr. Pullen, Mr. Betty, and 
himself have placed the Testament on the end of the 
bedstead, in such a manner that no part touched the 
bed-clothes, but it was thrown with a loud noise from 



THE SAMPFORD GHOST. 26 S 

the foot of the bed to the head." All this time the 
women were in bed, and he is sure they never moved, 
and he administered an oath to them the next morning 
in the presence of the same gentlemen. '' I have often 
heard the curtains of the bed most violently agitated, 
accompanied with a loud and almost indescribable 
motion of the rings. These curtains, to prevent their 
motion, were often tied up, each one of them in one 
large knot (being four). Every curtain in that bed 
. was agitated, and the knots thrown and whirled about 
with such rapidity, that it would have been unpleasant 
to have been in their vortex, or within the sphere of 
their action. Mr. Taylor, and Mr. Chave, of Mere 
(not related to the occupier), were witness to all this, 
and that it took up about two minutes, and concluded 
with a noise resembling the tearing of a person's shirt 
from top to bottom, but on examination, a rent was 
found across the grain of a strong new cotton curtain. 
I have heard in the presence of other witnesses foot- 
steps walking by me, and round me, and have been 
conscious of candles burning, yet could see nothing. 
Mr. Quick heard it come down stairs like a man's foot 
in a slipper, and seem to pass through the wall. I 
have been in the act of opening a door, which was al- 
ready half open, when a violent rapping was produced 
on the opposite of the same door; I paused a moment 
and the rapping continued ; I suddenly opened the 
door with a candle in my hand, yet I can swear I could 
see nothing. I have been in one of the rooms that 
has a large modern window, when from the noises, 
knockings, blows on the bed, and rattling of the cur- 
tains, I did really begin to think the whole chamber 
was falling in. Mr. Taylor was sitting in the chair the 
whole time ; the females were so terrified that large 
drops stood on their foreheads. When the act of 
beating has appeared from the sound of the blows 
near the foot of one bed, I have rushed to the spot, 



266 SIGNS BEFORE BE A TH. 

but it has instantly been heard near the head of the 
other bed. 

Mr. Colton's statement was corroborated by the fol- 
lowing affidavit :-— 

" I now proceed to a short detail of circumstances, 
to the truth of which I have voluntarily sworn, with 
a safe and clear conscience ; I am well aware that all 
who know me would not require the sanction of an 
oath, but as I am now addressing the public I must 
consider myself before a tribunal of which my acquaint- 
ance constitutes a very small part. And first, I de- 
pose solemnly, that after an attendance of six nights 
(not successive) at Mr. Chave's house, in the village 
of Sampford,.and with a mind perfectly unprejudiced, 
after the most minute investigation, and closest in- 
spection of all the premises, I am utterly unable to 
account for any of the phenomena I have there seen 
and heard, and labour at this moment under no small 
perplexity, arising from a determination not slightly 
to admit of supernatural interference and an impossi- 
bility of hitherto tracing these effects to any human 
cause. I farther depose, that in my visits to Mr. Chave's 
house at Sampford, I never had any other motive, 
direct or indirect, avowed or concealed, but an earnest, 
and, I presume, not a culpable wish, to trace these 
phenomena to their true and legitimate cause. Also, 
that I have in every instance found the people in the 
house most willing and ready to contribute every thing 
in their power, and to co-operate with me in the 
defection of the cause of those unaccountable sights, 
and violent blows and sounds. 

"Also, that I am so deeply convinced of the difficulty 
of proving these effects to be human, that I stand 
engaged to forfeit a very considerable sum to the poor 
of my parish, whenever this business now going on at 
Sampford shall be made appear to have been produced 
by any human art or ingenuity, collectively, or indi- 



THE SAMPFORD GHOST. 267 

vidually exerted. Also, that I have, in the presence of 
many gentlemen, repeatedly sworn the domestics to 
this effect, namely, — that they were not only utterly 
ignorant of the cause of those circumstances which 
then astonished us, but also of the causes of many 
other things equally unaccountable, which we ourselves 
did not hear nor see, but to the truth of which they 
also swore, no less than to their perfect ignorance of 
the means by which they were produced. Also, that 
I have affixed a seal with a crest, to every door, cavity, 
&c. in the house, through which any communication 
could be carried on ; — that this seal was applied to 
each end of sundry pieces of paper, in such a manner, 
that the slightest attempt to open such doors, or to 
pass such cavities, must have broken these papers, in 
which case my crest must have prevented their being 
replaced without discovery ; that none of these papers 
were deranged or broken ; and also, that the pheno- 
mena that night were as unaccountable as ever. Also, 
that I have examined several women, quite unconnected 
with the family of Mr. Chave ; but who, some from 
curiosity, and some from compassion, have slept in this 
house ; that many of them related the facts on oath ; 
that all of them wished to be so examined, if required ; 
and lastly, that they all agreed w^ithout one exception, 
in this particular,— that their night's rest was invariably 
destroyed by violent blows from some invisible hand, 
by an unaccountable and rapid drawing and with- 
drawing of the curtains ; by a suffocating and almost 
inexpressible weight, and by a repetition of sounds, so 
loud, as at times to shake the whole room. 

" To the truth of the above cited particulars, I volun- 
tarily make oath, in the presence of B. Wood, Master 
in Chancery, Tiverton. 

"B. wooD,M. cr 

" I shall here subscribe the names of a few, selected 



268 SIGJVS BEFORE DEA Tff. 

from a cloud of witnesses, on whose minds a sensible 
experience of similar facts hath produced similar con- 
victions ; facts, which though they are willing to sub- 
stantiate on oath, they are utterly unable to trace to 
any human agency. The names are as follows : — 

Mr. John Govett, Surgeon, Tiverton. 

Mr. Betty, Surgeon, Tiverton. 

Mr. PULLIN, Merchant, Tiverton. 

Mr. Quick, Landlord of the White House, 

Tiverton. 
Mr. Merson, Surgeon, Sampford. 
John Coweing, Esq., Sampford. 
Mr. Chave, Mere, near Huntsham. 

All these gentlemen are ready, if called on, to 
depone to their having witnessed circumstances in this 
house at Sampford, to them perfectly inexplicable, 
and for which they are utterly incapable to account. 

C. COLTON." 

Mr Colton published an appendix to his narrative, 
which was closed by the following affidavit : — 

''Thursday, September 27th, 18 10, John Chave, 
William Taylor, James Dodge, and Sally Case, 
voluntarily make oath this day as follows : — * That 
they are entirely ignorant of the cause of all thpse 
extraordinary circumstances that have and are oc- 
curring in the house of Mr. Chave, in the parish of 
Sampford. Also, that they have never made in or on 
any part of the premises, any sounds or noises, by day 
or night, by blows, or knockings, either with or with- 
out an instrument, in order to induce any one human 
being whatever to believe, or even to think, that there 
was anything unaccountable or supernatural in the 
house. Also, that they have never requested any 
other person so to do, and that they firmly believe no 
such attempts have been made by others. Also, that 



THE SAMPFORD GHOST, 269 

they have repeatedly heard in mid-day most violent 
and loud noises in the house, when numerous persons 
have been assembled, some in the upper, and some in 
the lower apartments, at the same time ; and all of 
them anxious and eager to discover the cause. Also, 
that the marks on the ceiling have been made by the 
persons trying, but in vain, to imitate the same sounds. 
Also, that to the best of their knowledge and belief, 
there are no subterraneous passages in or about the 
house/ — Sworn before me, the 28th of September, 
1810. 

J. GOVETT, Mayor of Tiverton." 



Talley, the landlord of the house, v/hose interest it 
certainly was to rid his property of such visitations at 
the moment that he brought it into the market for 
sale, now pretended to have discovered the whole 
affair; but this was on his own surmise, and not on 
the confession of either party. The house was 
certainly in a shattered condition, and somewhat out 
of repair; to this he ascribed the shaking, &c. A 
cooper, a mopstick, and a bludgeon, were likewise 
found concealed in the house one night when Talley 
had arranged to sleep there ; but forsooth ! might not 
the cooper and his implements have been placed there 
by Talley } With the broomstick and bludgeon the 
cooper was said to have produced the noises ! One 
Taylor, a young wag, was magnified into a necro- 
mancer on this occasion, and was said to have com- 
municated his cabalistic attainments to Sally the 
servant ; thus attempting to prove they were both in 
the plot. This pretended exposure drew down the 
vengeance of the populace on Chave at Tiverton, 
insomuch that he narrowly escaped with life. Chave 
was even com.pelled to fire a pistol on his assailants, 
and one man fell dead on the spot. 



2/0 SIGN'S BEFORE DEA TH. 

Soon after this Mr. Colton writes thus : * " An affair 
is still going on in this neighbourhood, and known to 
the public by the title of the Sampford Ghost, which 
might puzzle the materialism of Hume, or the im- 
materialism of Berkeley. Here we have a visible and 
incomprehensible agent, producing visible and sensible 
effects. The newspapers were not quite so accurate 
as they might have been in their statements on this 
occasion. First, the real truth is that the slightest 
shadow of an explanation has not yet been given, 
and that there exist no good grounds even for 
suspecting any one. The public were next given to 
understand that the disturbance had ceased ; whereas 
it is well known to all in this neighbourhood, that 
they continue, with unabating violence, to this hour. 
Soon after this, we were told, by way of explanation, 
that the whole affair was a trick of the tenant, who 
wished to purchase the house cheap — the stale solution 
of all haunted houses. But such an idea never entered 
his thoughts, even if the present proprietors were able 
to sell the house ; but it happens to be entailed. And 
at the very time when this was said, all the neighbour- 
hood knew that Mr. Chave was unremitting in his 
exertions to procure another habitation in Sampford 
on any terms. And to confirm this, these disturbances 
have at length obliged the whole family to make up 
their minds to quit the premises, at a very great loss 
and inconvenience, as Mr. Chave had expended a 
considerable sum in improvements, and could have 
continued on a reduced rent. 

" When one of the labourers on the canal was shot, 
the newspapers informed us that this took place at the 
house of the Mr. Chave above mentioned. The fact 

* Notes to '* Hypocrisy," a satire, 8vo, 1812. Mr. Colton is the 
author of " Lacon, or many things in few words" (crown 8vo., pub- 
lished by William Tegg), universally allowed to be one of the most 
piquant works in modern literature. 



THE SAMPFORD GHOST. 2/1 

is, that this circumstance happened in another part of 
the village, at the house of another Mr. Chave, neither 
related nor connected with the Mr. Chave in question. 

*' If these nocturnal and diurnal visitations are the 
effects of a plot, the agents are marvellously secret 
and indefatigable. It has been going on more than 
three years, and if it be the result of human machi- 
nation there must be more than sixty persons con- 
cerned in it. Now I cannot but think it rather strange, 
that a secret by which no one can possibly get any 
thing, should be so w^ell kept ; particularly when I in- 
form the public, what the newspapers would not or 
could not acquaint them with, namely, that a reward 
of two hundred and fifty pounds has been offered for 
any one who can give such information as may lead 
to a discovery ; nearly two years have elapsed, and no 
claimant has appeared. I myself, who have been 
abused as the dupe at one time, and the promoter of 
this affair at another, was the first to come forward with 
one hundred pounds, and the late mayor of Tiverton 
has now an instrument in his hands empowering him 
to call on me for the payment of that sum to any one 
who can explain the cause of the phenomena. 

" Many circumstances, if possible still more extra- 
ordinary than those I have related, have also occurred, 
but as they do not offer the least clue that may enable 
us to discover the cause that produced them, I shall 
do the public no service by relating them. A gentle- 
man who commanded a company in the Hereford 
Militia, was stationed at Sampford : his curiosity was 
much excited, and he sat up in Mr. Chave's house, at 
different times, thirty nights. I dined with him at 
Ottery Barracks ; his brother officers were anxious to 
know his opinion of that affair. He immediately 
replied, * Mr. Golton, who sits opposite, has engaged 
to give one hundred pounds to any person who can 
discover it. If he will hand me half a guinea across 



2/2 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

the table, I engage before you all to pay the money 
instead of him, whenever he is called upon/ I did 
not take his offer. A clear proof that neither of us 
think a discovery the most probable thing in the 
world/'— /^rc?;/'^ H, Welby, 

xcv. 

A Drea7n Fulfilled. 

During the present year (1874) the following has 
appeared in the Hartford Times, the Editor vouching 
for the truth of it : — '' Mr. John Eiswirth, a resident 
of this city, is a German by birth. He came to this 
country in 1849, bringing his wife with him. They 
had been here about a year when they received a 
letter stating that a brother of Mrs. Eiswirth was en 
route to America; but from that time to this they 
have never seen their relative. About three weeks 
ago Mr. Eiswirth had a dream. He thought he was 
seated in a car at the depot in Asylum Street. He 
didn*t want to go anywhere, but in spite of this feeling 
he was rolled out of the depot, and whirled away at 
lightning speed. It seemed to the dreamer that he 
was being carried, much against his will, thousands of 
miles from home. At last the train slackened its 
speed and came to a halt, and John found himself 
moving along with the passengers who were making 
their exit from the cars. When once outside he dis- 
covered that he was in a strange city, and among 
strangers. He asked a man where he was. He v/as 
told, ' St. Louis.' ' But,' says John, T live in Hartford. 
I want nothing in St. Louis.' The stranger smiled 
and passed on, leaving our Hartford friend as per- 
plexed as ever. While standing in his tracks wonder- 
ing what to do, he saw at a distance a figure which sent 
a thrill of joy through his frame. It was his long-lost 
brother-in-law. It had been more than a quarter of 



A DREAM FULFILLED. 2/3 

a century since John had set eyes on him, and time 
had worked a great change in his appearance, but for 
all that our friend recognized him, and ran towards 
him hallooing at the top of his voice, as if afraid he 
might disappear. The meeting was a cordial one, and 
the pair celebrated the event at a stylish saloon, 
where foaming mugs of ' lager ' played a prominent 
part. The next John knew he found himself awake 
at his home in Park Street. But his dream had made 
a strong impression, and, do what he would, he could 
not forget it, and when he got up the next morning 
the remembrance of that long ride and the happy 
meeting clung to him still. That very day some 
clerk in the Hartford Post-office might have seen a 

letter addressed to Mr. , of St. Louis, with the 

instruction on the end of the envelope — ^ If not called 
for within ten days, return to John Eiswirth, Hartford, 
Conn.' Mr. Eiswirth says that he sent the letter ad- 
dressed to his brother-in-law without the remotest 
expectation of hearing from him. He sent it to 
relieve his mind. But after the missive was sent he 
might never have thought of it again if something 
startling had not occurred a day or two since. John 
was at home with his family when the postman came 
to the door and delivered a letter. It was post- 
marked ' St. Louis.' It was torn open with tremulous 
fingers, and to their great joy it was found to be from 
their long-lost relative in answer to the letter which 
John had forwarded in obedience to his dream. It 
appeared by the letter that the St. Louis German had 
been as much in the fog as to his sister's and Eiswirth's 
whereabouts as they had been in regard to him. The 
St. Louis man writes that he shall soon come to this 
city on a visit, and his Hartford friends are delighted 
at the prospect of a happy rmnion. When he does 
come, John proposes that what he dreamed about the 
* lager ' shall become a reality.'' 

i8 



2/4 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

XCVI. 

A New Miracle. 

We extract the following from the Hour newspaper, 
London, where it appeared under the authority of a 
Prussian correspondent: — 

For some time lately, a young girl named Louise 
Lateau has created quite a sensation in Belgium and 
the Rhenish provinces of Prussia. She is said to be 
" stigmatized," and pretends in her moments of ecstasy 
to see God in His glory. Under the term " stigma- 
tization " the Catholic Church understands the miracu- 
lous peculiarity of persons bearing on their body the 
five principal wounds of Our Saviour, and bleeding 
from them on certain days. Bois d'Haine, the village 
in which Louise Lateau lives, is now the place of 
pilgrimage for many pious persons coming from 
Holland, Germany, and Belgium, to witness with their 
own eyes the performance of the miracle. Majunke, 
being some time since in Treves on a visit to his con- 
stituents, made also a call upon Louise Lateau, and 
remained several days in Bois d'Haine, where he also 
met with Bishop Mermillod, and Lefevre, a medical 
professor at the University of Louvain, After his 
visit, Majunke gave a lecture on what he beheld, from 
the reports of which in Ultramontane papers the 
following items are extracted : — " Louise is a very 
simple girl ; she has seen very little of the world, and 
spent the greater part of her life in a solitary country 
cottage. She daily receives the Holy Sacrament, 
which is her only nourishment. For two years she 
has neither eaten or drunk anything else. When she 
does not receive the Communion she is seized with 
deadly faintness, so that even on Good Friday she is 
allowed to partake of the Lord's Supper. Every 
morning at six o'clock she visits the church, at some 



A NEW MIRACLE, 2/5 

distance from her abode, except on Friday, when the 
Holy Sacrament is brought to her. Last Friday it 
was administered by the Very Reverend the Bishop 
of Tournai. I myself assisted. In the little room, 
floored with bricks, we found everything prepared as 
for a person dangerously ill. Louise was kneeling at 
the table, and bleeding profusely. The bleeding by 
Louise Lateau begins at midnight on Thursday, and 
terminates at midnight on Friday. First the forehead 
bleeds, as when the crown of thorns pierced the head ; 
the blood streams from under the hair down the 
cheeks ; and then the hands, side, and feet bleed from 
above and below." On the day Majunke was at Bois 
d'Haine, Louise Lateau took the Holy Sacrament 
almost ravenously. " In the afternoon, about two 
o'clock, she fell in ecstacy. The Bishop of Tournai 
went to her previously, to see if, perhaps, in con- 
versation she would forget the time. But, no. 
Punctually at two o'clock she became silent, and her 
eyes fixed. The a-ire of the village declared that 
Louise often during her excitement saw apparitions. 
First, she saw God in His glory, and later on, the 
sufferings of Christ, especially in the last stages. 
Shortly before three o'clock, Louise fell to the ground, 
and at three she extended her hands. Strange to say, 
during these convulsions — when the spirit is trans- 
ported to other regions — it still lives for the things 
surrounding the body. A consecrated article, for 
instance, being placed in the immediate neighbour- 
hood of Louise, a gentle smile was seen to play on 
her features. Also during the prayers she smiled at 
certain moments — fourteen of us were present, and 
the priests were praying ; when the words Gloria 
Patri, Misericordia, or Misericors, were uttered, she 
smiled ia a most remarkable manner, no matter if the 
prayer was delivered in the French, German, or 
Hebrew, for in her ecstacy she understood all 



2/6 SIGNS BEFORE DEA TH. 

languages, and consecrated or unconsecrated articles 
were immediately distinguished by her. Professor 
Lefevre convinced us, by plunging a pen-knife, into 
her extended hand, that Louise was insensible to all 
the laws of the natural world ; for the hand was not 
withdrawn, nor flinched ; neither did any blood pro- 
ceed from the place pene^trated. When during prayers 
the names of Jesus and Mary were mentioned, the 
upper part of the body of Louise arose from the 
ground ; but this movement was no voluntary one, as 
generally the case ; she seemed to be borne up in- 
visibly. On the Bishop uttering the words, ' Oh, my 
Jesus, I kneel to Thee/ she turned round so quickly, 
and fell down so suddenly before the Bishop, that I 
and the Bishop were quite concerned, fearing she was 
going to spring out of the window. On the episcopal 
cross approaching her, she seized it with her hands. 
At the termination of the prayers, she again fell down 
— or rather was invisibly placed down, for by falling 
she would have wounded herself on the pavement. 
' Indeed ' (states Majunke) 'our language has not the 
proper word for expressing the act of this prostration. 
On the next morning, at six o'clock, although she had 
lost so much blood on the previous day, Louise was 
nevertheless in the church. I called again upon her. 
On entering I found her occupied with her sisters in 
needlework. She offered me a chair, and was some- 
what reserved. Her face was rather pale, but seemed 
transfigured. I said I was a priest from Germany, 
where the Church had now so much to sufter ; and 
begged her to pray for me and the Catholics in 
Germany, and that I would remember her when 
off*ering up mass. She replied, 'Je vous remercie, 
monsieur,' and nothing further. She has been so 
much visited by theological and medical commissions, 
by men of learning, princes, and distinguished per- 
sonages, that she is quite insensible to the external 



A NEW MIRACLE. 2^7 

world ; she receives no presents whatever, and is living 
in very poor circumstances. Among other trials, she 
was shut up for a month without receiving the whole 
time the least nourishment." These are the words of 
Majunke literally translated, and to add to the force 
of his statement, he finished by declaring, '' All this I 
have witnessed with my own eyes : so I found Louise 
Lateau.'' 




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